The Beginning Of Our Story (Written In The Stars Clois Series)
by WinchesterGurl1967
Summary: A completely different take on the SV episode, 'Rogue'. After a bad cop witnesses Clark using his abilities, he is compelled to join forces with the rogue officer to protect his secret identity. Everything is the same except what would happen if a certain rebellious, feisty brunette happened to attend the Luthor Hall Exposition of the Museum? (Full summary inside) CLOIS :)
1. Prologue

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Summary: The first installment to 'Written In The Stars' Clois series. After a bad cop witnesses Clark using his abilities, he is compelled to join forces with the rogue officer to protect his secret identity. Everything is the same except what would happen if a certain rebellious, feisty brunette happened to attend the Luthor Hall Exposition of the Museum? Would it change anything at all? Or would things remain the same with the unattainable Lois Lane in the mix? **_

_**Rating: T **_

_**Pairing: Clark and Lois**_

_**Spoilers: Episodes; Rogue **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**_

_**A/N: This will be the first part to my Written In The Stars Clois series. This story will only include one episode from season one, but there will be a few more parts to this series that will include a lot more chapters. **_

_**Prologue: **_

_**January 15**__**th**__**, 2002 **_

It was a relatively chilly mid-January night in the highly populated city of Kansas.

Metropolis.

It was the place where dreams, hopes and futures came true for most of the community, but for others it was just a pit-stop on their never ending journey.

On this particular night, there were two individuals, whose lives were about to change in the most unexpected of ways. One was visiting the city for the first time with a good friend, even though he has lived less than two hours away for most of his life. Another was coming back to the city for the first time in several years, but was only staying temporarily until she was forced to move on to another state—another town—another journey.

And this was just the beginning of their story…

The trees rustled, slightly from the wind, which blew around some loose leaves on the cool ground. The brisk air brushed against the skin of the men that were preparing for the departure of a tall, stoic, gruff man, who had only arrived earlier that morning. The streets outside the Military base on the outskirts of the city were less crowded than normal, and that had everything to do with the event that had captured the attention of several citizens—an event that was the stepping stone for one of the most successful men in the city—an event that brought a Four Star General and his defiant daughter back to the one place they haven't been back to in almost nine years.

The Metropolis Museum Exposition of Luthor Hall.

Everyone with deep pockets or people with connections to people with deep pockets, even people with long reaches were attending the most anticipated event of the new year, and it was the entire reason a certain rebellious, feisty brunette was back in the city she never expected to see again.

At least not until she was able to escape from her father's tight grip.

It was also the reason she was currently receiving a lecture from said father.

General Sam Lane stood like a statue in front of his daughter with his arms crossed over his chest, and his facial expression held little to no emotion, as he stared down at her. "You better be listening, Lois. I'm only going to say this one and one time only. If I find out that you do anything you're not supposed to while I'm gone there will be consequences for your actions."

At her complete and utter silence, he continued, "I expect you to be on your best behavior while I'm gone. I might not be coming back to the base for a day or two, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you like whenever you want. We are guests here. This isn't our base back in Washington, so that means you have to follow the rules. There will be no flirting with the young soldiers. You will not be taking strolls at all hours of the night. You won't be gallivanting around the city. And under no circumstances will you attend the exposition. You are to remain on base the entire time unless it's an emergency. Is that understood?"

Lois Lane rolled her eyes at her father, as he listed all of the things she wasn't allowed to do while they were staying here. Well, while she was staying here, she corrected herself, since he would be gone for all or most of their time here for meetings and things that just bored her.

Honestly, she just wished that he would leave already, so she could enjoy the rest of the night without him shadowing over her.

It was annoying.

He did this every single time he had to leave. Of course, it was kind of her fault that they kept having the same conversation over and over again.

Over the years, she had found many different ways to escape from several of the bases they were stationed at not because she purposefully wanted to cause any trouble, but because she enjoyed living life on the edge, which meant exploring things that she had never seen, especially when they were somewhere that she personally wanted to explore, and every single time she did it, it irritated him beyond belief.

It was the sole reason they were forced to have this conversation every single time he was leaving for an extended amount of time, but she was an adventurous person at heart, and maybe a little bit of a troublemaker.

What could she say?

It was better gallivanting around the town or city they were in at the time instead of staying inside a fortress that made her feel smothered and confined.

"Don't worry, daddy. I won't be getting into any trouble while you're gone. I just plan on sitting right here in this exact same spot until you return. I won't move, blink or speak."

He stared at her, his face unmoving, his eyes unblinking, and his stoic attitude all that gruffer. "Don't be sarcastic, Lois. I expect to hear nothing ill-wised of you when I come back."

She raised her hand to her forehead before saluting him with a smirk plastered across her face. "Sir, yes, sir."

He was seconds away from once again lecturing her on her extremely sarcastic attitude, which was a little more abundant that it usually was, but was stopped by one of the men accompanying him this evening knocking, and entering the room before saluting him just like his daughter had. "We're ready when you are, sir."

A nod of his head sent the man in the other direction, and as soon as he was gone, he locked eyes with his daughter. "Behave yourself."

"Will do, General." As soon as he disappeared behind the wooden door, she jumped off the couch like she was struck by lightning, and made her way into the small, but comfortable bedroom before she started rummaging through her clothes, attempting to find something that was worthy of a great night out.

A part of herself wondered if she should just stay put like her father wanted her to, but the other, more convincing part of herself knew that this could be the last time she was in Metropolis for a while, and she intended on making the most of it.

A little over one week ago, when she was informed that her father was dragging her to the city for a few days, while he went to some government meetings and a fancy museum exposition, the same exact one she had practically begged him to allow her to go to, but of course he had refused, she knew that she was going to enjoy those few days.

There were so many things to do in the city, but honestly there were only two things she wanted to do, and she planned on doing both of them, not even caring about the complications that it would take to accomplish them or what would happen if she was to get caught doing the things, he strictly told her not to do.

Firstly, she would be making an appearance at the very exposition he had refused to let her attend, and then she would somehow find a way to get to the one person that she has missed more than anything else in the entire world.

Her cousin, Chloe Sullivan.

It has been years since they spent any physical face to face time with each other, and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way. Not her father. No one. She would be spending most if not all of her time with her.

But before she could surprise her, she had to sneak off base, find a way to the Museum, and leave without her father finding out that she was ever there.

It was risky, of course, but it wasn't anything she hasn't done in the past.

He would most likely be surrounded by his fellow officers, and there was little to no chance that he would realize she was even there. Even if he did, she would find a way to get to that small-town, Smallville, to spend some much-needed quality time with her cousin.

It was inevitable.

Nothing was going to stop her.

Not even some pretty heavy consequences from her father.

* * *

In the center of the city, Clark Kent was standing in the middle of the Luthor Hall Exposition, his eyes trained on a display of a multi-colored jewel breastplate, which had a gold snake curled into the shape of an 'S' in the middle of it.

He honestly had no idea what drew him to this particular piece, but he could admit to himself that it was quite unique, and maybe a little over the top for body armor.

"You know, it belonged to Alexander the Great? They said the design symbolizes strength and courage."

Clark glanced over at his friend, Lex Luthor, with a soft smile playing on his lips before returning his gaze to the item. "I can't exactly see myself going into battle with that on my chest."

"Darker times call for darker methods. His opponents thought he was invincible."

He cocked a brow at him, from the slight admiration that was laced in his words. " I didn't know you were such a history buff."

Lex shook his head, slightly. "I'm not. I'm just interested in people, who have ruled the world before they were thirty."

Lana Lang, who had been headed to greet the man that had invited both her and her aunt here for the night, overheard his last comment, and quickly made herself known. "Oh. Don't worry, Lex. You still have a few years to go."

Clark' entire demeaner changed when he heard the sound of her voice, and set his eyes on the woman he has had a crush on ever since he was ten years old. "Lana? I didn't know you were going to be here."

A frown took over her features from his words. "Didn't Lex tell you?"

When they both turned their questioning eyes on him, Lex just shrugged his shoulders like it was a genuine mistake. "It must have slipped my mind. Why don't I leave the two of you alone?"

Both of them watched him smile, smugly between the two of them before walking away with a pep in his step, and knew that he had done this on purpose. It wasn't the first time something like this happened and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Lana fidgeted, uncomfortable for a few seconds, while Clark looked anywhere but directly at her before she settled for innocent small talk instead of the major elephant in the room. "Are you having a good time, Clark?"

Clark nodded, still feeling a little uncomfortable from his friend' not so subtle maneuver. "Yeah. Well, I'm feeling a bit underdressed."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Whitney is just as uncomfortable."

And just like that the nervousness he was feeling one second ago vanished into thin air.

"Whitney came too?"

She nodded. "Why don't you join us? I'm going to yank Nelle away from the jewelry exhibit, so we can eat."

"Yeah. Sure." He watched her walk away from him before turning around towards the table, where the quarterback was sitting, and he definitely looked completely out of his element.

A part of himself wondered if he should just suck up his feelings towards him and his relationship with the beautiful woman he has daydreamed about for years, but the other part of himself knew that he would only be putting himself through an ache he didn't really want to deal with tonight.

He would be miserable, and he'd rather enjoy the rest of the night, without thinking of his feelings for the dark-haired woman or the fact that he would only ever be her friend and nothing more.

He quickly started walking in the other direction, passing his friend, but before he could get very far Lex grabbed his arm, lightly, effectively stopping him from leaving. "Clark, where are you going?"

"I'm going to get some air."

Lex sighed, softly. "You know, you're never going to get her if you keep running from your enemy."

"Whitney isn't my enemy," Clark scoffed.

"Yes, he is, Clark, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll find a way to win Lana. Just remember, keep your friends close and the quarterback closer."

Clark just nodded at the man, and started walking towards the front doors, wanting some much-needed fresh air, but was stopped by an unfamiliar voice speaking from directly behind him. "You know, that friend of yours has a point."

_**This little gem of an idea came to me a little over one year ago, and I just haven't found the time to get it posted, but figured now that I have a little free time, I'd give this little story a shot. It's the first series I'll be posting, and there will be a few more that will pick up where this one ends. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed the prologue **_


	2. Chapter One

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter One: **_

Lois was completely and utterly frustrated, as she stood outside the main doors of the Museum, her hazel eyes glaring at the man guarding the entrance, who was refusing to let her inside since she didn't have a ticket and wasn't on the list, but she was determined to get inside this building.

No matter what she had to do.

She smiled, sweetly at him before batting her eyelashes. "Are you sure there is nothing you can do? I've been waiting months for this event."

"Well, you should have gotten a ticket then. No ticket. No entry."

"Can't you just let me pass? I'm not going to cause any trouble. I just want to witness the elusive Luthor Hall for myself."

He sighed, heavily, and rubbed his hands over his face before dropping them back down to his sides. This woman was giving him a damn headache. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I can't do that. I'm going to have to ask you to leave before I'm forced to remove you from the premises myself."

Lois raised her hands in surrender, and took a few steps back from the man. "There's no need for that. I'm going."

Well, it was worth a shot, she thought to herself, as she made her way back towards the main street.

There was a small part of herself that had hoped it would be easy to get inside not only because she had broken into and out of many places most of her life without getting caught, but also because she always had a way of charming the guards on base to let her leave without informing her father.

Obviously, her charms weren't going to work this time. This Lex Luthor character had definitely made sure that there wouldn't be any unwanted guests at his event. It made sense, but honestly, she just wanted inside the one place she's wanted to be for several months now, and no matter what she would getting inside this building.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed a dirt path running directly behind the vast building, and grinned from ear to ear, as a brilliant but risky idea rushed to the forefront of her mind. If her charms wouldn't work on the man guarding the main doors then she was going to have to stick to old fashioned breaking and entering routine, which she happened to be very, very good at it.

Her father had definitely raised her to overcome any issues that came her way, and this right here was her saving grace.

She quickly darted down the darkened pathway, careful to not allow the bodyguard to see her before she ended up at the side of the building, where there was a door that just happened to not be guarded.

This place wasn't as much of a fortress as she previously believed it would be.

Without hesitation, she rushed over towards the door, and placed her hand on the door knob, but before she could get inside, she heard a gruff, manly voice echoing from directly behind her. "Excuse me, ma'am. What are you doing?"

So much for not getting caught, she thought to herself before turning around to face the man with a charming smile plastered across her face. "I'm just trying to get back inside. I came out for a quick smoke, and the damn door shut behind me."

It wasn't exactly a lie.

She had picked up smoking a few months ago, but the second her father found out she was ditching classes to smoke underneath the bleachers, a lot like the way her mother had started down this path of addiction, he had practically banned her from smoking. That didn't mean she didn't find a way to do it behind his back.

The man stared at her, his face almost as stoic as her own father'. "Aren't you a little young to be smoking?"

"You know what they say…sixteen is the new thirty." She rubbed her hands down the front of her dress, nervously before taking a few steps towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

He quickly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "You're not going anywhere, young lady. This door is for employees only, and I know for a fact that there is no way you could have gotten through this door from the inside, so that must mean your trying to break in."

"What reason would I have for breaking in?"

"I don't know your reasons, but I can assure you that you won't be getting into this building."

"I'm trying to get back inside not break in."

"We'll see about that." He lightly grabbed her arm, and started pulling her towards the front of the building. "Mr. Luthor is definitely going to want to share a few words with you. He doesn't take kindly to strangers trying to break into his events."

Oh great, she thought to herself, not only had the man at the front doors refused to let her inside, but this man had caught her trying to break in, and now the elusive Lex Luthor, the one that was on the front page of several articles, was going to make sure that she never saw the inside of this building.

She might not know the Luthor' on a personal level, but she did know their reputation from the articles she had read over the years, and they were definitely men not to be messed with, especially the older one, Lionel Luthor.

When they arrived at the front entrance, the man that had watched her leave the premises not even five minutes ago sighed, heavily when he laid his eyes on her. "I thought I asked you to leave?"

"I found this one trying to break into the side entrance," the man holding her arm told him.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

She smirked at the man. "What can I say? I'm a determined woman."

"Well, that determination isn't going to get you very far tonight. If your lucky, Mr. Luthor will only send you away with a stern warning instead of the inside of a jail cell."

This night had just turned from bad to worse in the matter of minutes, she thought to herself, as she gulped, silently, and waited for the man himself to make his presence known.

This wasn't going to be good.

Not at all.

Lex, who had been entertaining his guests, was not a happy man, as he made his way towards the front of the entrance to set his eyes on the person attempting to break into his event. It wasn't surprising that someone would try to break into the Museum the same exact night his hall was opening, and he had a pretty good feeling that this was his father' way of testing him, just like he's done a million times over the years, but he was about to prove to him that he was more than capable of doing things on his own—of taking control of things on his own—of becoming the successful man he had raised him to be.

Lionel might think he would fail, hell, it was the entire reason he sent him to Smallville in the first place, but he was about to learn that his son wasn't as much of a failure as he would like to believe.

All of those thoughts faded to the furthest parts of his mind, when he noticed that one of the guards were holding a young woman, who looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, and instantly realized that something else that had nothing to do with his father was going on here.

He would have sent one of his men.

Not a teenage girl.

"What's going on out here?"

"I caught this one trying to break in," the man holding her voiced.

"And that was after I refused to let her inside," the other man added.

Lex nodded at them before setting his eyes on the woman, who didn't even seem to be terrified, worried or remorseful, as she stared at him with those radiant and defying hazel eyes of hers. "Well, these men seem to think that your trying to break into this building. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Lois never took her eyes off him, her nonchalant attitude only growing stronger and stronger, as she was standing mere feet away from one the wealthiest men in the city. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

Lex couldn't stop himself from grinning at the woman standing directly in front of him. She was definitely a firecracker. "I might not own this building, but this is my event, and my men seem to think you have devious plans."

"Well, they would be mistaken. I'm just trying to enjoy what little time I have left in this city. You see, my father, General Sam Lane is here, and—"

"And he wouldn't let you come?" He finished her sentence.

She nodded.

Normally, he would have turned his nose to something like that, but there was something about this woman that reminded him of himself when he was her age, which wasn't all that long ago. She was defiant, strong-willed, and wasn't afraid to make her own choices, just like he was, hell, he was still like that sometimes.

She wanted things that her father wouldn't let her have.

He could relate to that.

"Let her go."

"But, sir—"

"Did I stutter?" He glared at the man attempting to argue with him. "I said, let her go. She isn't a criminal mastermind. She just wants inside, and that's exactly what we're going to allow her to do."

As soon as they were both inside the building, Lois turned towards the man, who had just allowed her to come inside his event without any questions or any demands, and stared at him, inquisitively for several seconds. "Why'd you let me inside?"

Lex smiled, softly at her. "You remind me of myself in some ways. I used to be just as defiant as you are. Just promise me that your not going to cause any trouble."

She nodded at the man, and watched him walk away from her with a victorious smile slowly spreading out across her face.

Maybe he wasn't as bad as the papers claimed him to be, she thought to herself, but just because he had shown her kindness tonight that didn't mean she was going to let her guard down around him.

He was a Luthor.

They were business tycoons and they definitely weren't men to be messed with or to double cross.

He might have shown her a softer side of himself, but that didn't mean he didn't have an evil side like his father, who had screwed over many people in the past several years, and there was no way she was going to think of him in any sort of friendly way just because he had revealed a side of himself that wasn't in the many articles she had read.

He was still a Luthor, and that family was not to be trusted, hell, her father had done enough business with men like him to know that they always screwed over the people they did business with.

Even though she would never trust let alone be that man's friend, she couldn't help feeling thankful for his kindness, especially since this was the one thing she wanted to do before surprising her cousin in Smallville.

She was seconds away from wandering around the hall when she noticed that the man, who had just taken a chance on her, was talking to a young man, almost the same age of herself, and if she was being completely honest with herself, he was quite handsome.

He had dark, ebony hair that flowed just above his eyebrows. His eyes were the deepest blue she had ever seen on a person before, and he looked even more handsome with that black tux, hugging his taut chest and muscular arms. Even though he was quite handsome, it was quite obvious that he was completely out of his element like this was his first time in the city or at a big event such as this one. For some reason, she got the feeling that he was a small-town boy not a city boy, but he could definitely don a suit and tie.

What are you doing? She questioned herself before pushing any and all thoughts about the man she didn't even know down into the deepest parts of herself.

There was no way she could be thinking things of this manner—things that would never amount to anything. She didn't know him, and she would probably never even talk to him, besides her main focus needed to be on the real reason she was here in the first place…to enjoy the beauty surrounding her before spending what few days she had with her favorite and only cousin.

As hard as she tried, she couldn't take her eyes off the man, and her interest in him only grew stronger when she noticed a beautiful dark-haired woman walk over to him. Against her better judgement, she moved closer to them, and listened in on their conversation until she walked away from him.

To say she was amused by this young man's predicament was an understatement, actually, it was quite hilarious.

From what she could see and hear, this man had feelings for the beautiful girl, which wasn't all that surprising since she seemed to be the perfect girlfriend. Honestly, girls like her always irritated her because they always thought that the world revolved around them, but if that was his cup of tea than she wasn't going to judge him for that.

It was obvious that he liked her, but for some reason he was fighting those feelings. Why did men have to make things so difficult?

She pushed her thoughts aside before eavesdropping on his conversation with his friend, Lex Luthor, coming to the conclusion that that man had some good insight when it came to their current dilemma, and when he started walking away from him, she made her way towards him, unable to stop herself from introducing herself to the young man. "You know, that friend of yours has a point."

Clark turned around towards the unfamiliar voice, intending to put a face to the woman, who had so rudely eavesdropped on his personal conversation, but was rendered completely and utterly speechless when he laid his aquamarine eyes on the beautiful woman.

A few feet away from him away stood a woman wearing a bright red dress, his favorite color, that hung loosely above her knees, and it acclimated to her hips, perfectly, as her tan and long legs seemed to go on for miles and miles, which only made her look all that more beautiful. Her hair was a dark auburn color, almost matching those bright, hazel eyes of hers, and he could honestly admit to himself that he had never been this awestricken—this speechless—this attracted to someone in his entire life.

Her beauty was more than words could explain.

What was happening? He questioned, internally before telling himself over and over again that this couldn't possibly be happening right now.

He was in love with Lana, the woman he has liked ever since he was a young boy. Not this woman he had literally just met. He honestly didn't know what was going on since this had never happened before, especially since he has only ever had eyes for Lana, but figured that it was just teenage hormones that were causing this attraction to happen.

It would pass; besides he would probably never see or ever speak to this woman again.

He quickly pushed all the tantalizing thoughts lingering in his head to the back of his mind, and focused on the woman standing directly in front of him. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

Lois smiled, widely, as she walked closer to the man, who had caught her attention the second she laid her hazel eyes on him.

More like the situation he was in, she thought to herself.

"I highly doubt that. This is my first time in the city in quite a few years. I'm only passing through, so while I'm here I figured that I'd check out the exposition everyone has been talking about."

A frown took over his features from her words since he knew that this particular event was sold out months in advance. "That's not possible. I happen to know the person holding this event, and tickets sold out months ago, so how'd you get in? Sneak in through the back?"

She chuckled, softly, which sounded like music to his ears, but once again he pushed down the attraction, he was feeling towards a woman he didn't even know, hell, he didn't even know her name. "Well. Well. It looks like I have quite an imaginative thinker on my hands, or someone who knows what it's like to sneak into places."

Clark looked away from her, like that would erase the few times he had broken into buildings for good reasons, of course, but it wasn't like she would understand the prospect of having to save peoples lives from the meteor freaks in his hometown.

She grinned from ear to ear at his reaction. "I'll take that as a yes. I happen to be an expert in that particular area of expertise. My cousin might be even better at it than myself."

"It runs in the family? What are you? A family of bandits?"

A loud chuckle escaped past her lips from his words. "Not even close. More like a family of adventurous entrepreneurs. You see, my cousin wants to become an investigative reporter for The Daily Planet, so it's kind of in her genes."

He smiled at that, her words reminding him of his best friend. "What about you?"

"Oh. I haven't though much about my future." At the exasperated expression slowly forming across his face, she grinned, widely, knowing that that wasn't what he was asking, and relegated to giving him what he wanted. "But that wasn't what you wanted to know, was it? You want to know how I've gotten so good at sneaking into places?"

He nodded.

"Well, when you've been raised by a four star General you learn a few things along the way like sneaking into places without getting caught."

That was intriguing, he thought to himself.

"Your father is a General?"

She nodded before twirling around in a circle for effect. "You're looking at a born and raised army brat."

"So, he dragged you here?"

"Not exactly." When he gave her a confused look, she continued, "If you want to know the truth, I'm not exactly supposed to be here."

"Where are you supposed to be?"

"In my room at the base."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Let me guess, you hate following orders, so you figured that you'd break every single one of his rules."

She nodded with a smirk set in place. "Something like that."

"So, how'd you get inside?"

"This might come as a shocker, but you aren't the only one with strong ties in the rich community."

He couldn't help but chuckle at the firecracker of a woman that was standing directly in front of him. "Why am I not surprised."

She crossed her arms over her chest, as her eyes glinted, dangerously at him. "And why's that? You think you know me after only a few minutes?"

He shook his head from side to side. "Not in the slightest, but you do have some unique qualities. Some are more transparent than others."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like eavesdropping on other peoples conversations."

A wide grin spread out across her face from his words. "Should have known that that one was going to come back and bit me in the ass, but it wasn't entirely on purpose. I just happened to be walking by when I overheard your very awkward conversation with the beautiful girl, and just couldn't help myself."

Why did he get the feeling that she wasn't being completely honest with him?

"Once again, I'm not surprised."

She moved a little closer to him. "So? What's the story there? It's pretty obvious that you have feelings for her, so what's stopping you from going after her?"

Honestly, he didn't want to discuss his feelings for Lana not only because it wasn't really any of her business, but also because she was the furthest thing from his mind at this moment it time. Maybe it was because this woman was distracting him from those thoughts or maybe it was the woman herself that was causing him to think of other things.

He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to analyze the things she was making him feel.

"There isn't much of a story. We're just friends, and she has a boyfriend anyways."

"That doesn't stop most men."

"Well, I'm not like most men."

"Clearly." She smiled, widely at him before taking a few more steps towards him. "Well, as much fun as this has been, I think it's time I get out of here before my father does find me, and ruin my plans for the night, but I have to admit that this has been the most entertaining conversation I've had since arriving here."

He nodded, and watched her start to turn away from him, but instantly realized that he didn't even know her name. Of course, it probably didn't matter since he would never see her again, but for some reason he wanted to know what to call her just in case they happened to run into each other again in the future.

"Wait!" Once she turned back around towards him, he continued, "What's your name?"

"Lois. Lois Lane."

A smile appeared on his face. "I'm Clark Kent."

She just grinned at him, and right when she was in the process of turning away from him again, she was stopped dead in her tracks from the sound of her father' gruff voice, practically yelling, from across the room. "Lois Joanne Lane!"

Clark frowned at the loud voice, and with one look at her knew that it belonged to her father. "Is that him?"

"Yeah. That would be your cue to leave unless you want the famous Lane interrogation."

"Are you going to be okay?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Your sentiments are sweet, Clark, but I deal with this on a daily basis. Don't worry about me. It's not like we'll ever see each other again anyways."

He stared at her for a few seconds before turning away from her, and as he walked through the vast hallways of the Museum, he couldn't help feeling like it would be a shame if he never her saw her again—if he never got to spent more time with her—if he never got the chance to get to know her.

Their conversation was unlike anything he's experienced in his entire life. It was like he could be himself around her, which didn't really make any sense because he didn't even know her, but for some reason he felt freer around her, and he really, really hoped that this wasn't the first and first last they would be seeing each other.

It would definitely be a shame.

Lois watched him walk away from her until he disappeared from her sights, and honestly, she was feeling more than a little downhearted from the mere fact that this would probably be their first and last conversation.

It wasn't just his attractiveness that made him interesting, but it was the way he listened to her—the way he responded to her sarcastic remarks—the way he teased her—the way he made her feel.

In their brief conversation, he had made her feel something she has never felt in her entire life…complete and utter content. It would be a real shame if they never saw let alone spoke to each other again, especially since she could picture him being a really good friend to her. Maybe even more if their circumstances were different.

After one meeting, he had made her feel like that. What did that mean?

Not like it matters, she thought to herself, it was highly doubtful that they would ever see each other again.

"Lois!" Sam yelled, one more time, as he made his way towards his troublemaker of a daughter.

She sighed, heavily before turning around to face her father, who looked like he was about to blow a fuse. "You know, I heard you the first twenty times you called my name."

General Lane glared at his defiant daughter, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm enjoying what little time we have in this city."

"Don't cop an attitude, young lady. You're supposed to be at the base. Not here. You explicitly disobeyed my orders."

"And your surprised by this, why?"

He ignored her remark, as he glanced behind her, looking for the person he had just seen her with. "Who was that boy you were with?"

"What boy?" She played dumb.

"Don't play innocent with me. I just saw you talking to a young man. Who was he?"

"I have no idea what your talking about."

It wasn't that she didn't want her father knowing that she was having a conversation with the opposite sex, but it was the fact that he would interrogate him like he was a prisoner from overseas. It's been happening ever since she started dating, and she didn't want Clark to have to go through the things some of the guys she's dated have been forced to experience. She liked him, and she didn't want her father to question a man she would probably never see again.

"Like hell you don't." He continued looking for the young man, but quickly gave up on the prospect of finding him, and focused on the matter at hand. "What are you doing here? I thought I unmistakably told you to not leave the base, and I'm pretty sure I made it clear that you weren't to come here of all places."

"What did you expect? You basically put me on house arrest until you came back. I wasn't just going to stay at some random base, where I don't know anyone. I wanted to enjoy what few days we have here, and in case you've forgotten I have memories in this city. Memories of my mother."

Sam softened, slightly from her endearing words, but it still didn't excuse her for disobeying his direct orders. "I understand that, Lo. This city holds memories for me too, but that doesn't mean you can disobey my orders. It's only for a few days and then we'll be going back to our base."

"You mean your base," she corrected him before continuing, "I'm not a soldier. I'm just an army brat, and you can't really be surprised that I did this. I told you months ago that I wanted to come here, but you refused to let me come, so if we're being honest this is entirely your fault."

"I'm not surprised, Lois. I'm disappointed. I thought that just once you would listen to me, but once again I've been proven wrong. Your too disobedient for your own good."

Any other person would have felt heartbroken from hearing their own father tell them that they are disappointed in them, but not her. It was an everyday occurrence between them. She made decisions that went against his direct orders. He would lecture her for making those choices, again and again. She would remain unbothered by it and he always became more and more disappointed with her.

It was their relationship, and honestly, she doubted that it would ever change.

They've been at each other's throats ever since he shipped Lucy, her younger sister, off to boarding school in Switzerland. It would probably always be this way between them, but it was his own doing.

After her mother passed away when she was six years old, he placed a mountain of responsibilities of her little shoulders, expecting her to become a young woman overnight, which she had, but now he was paying for the way he treated her growing up. Not only was she in charge of taking care of her little sister, which included getting her to school on time, making sure she received three proper meals a day, and helped her with her homework, but she was also forced to deal with things no child should have to deal with.

The whole reason she was a rebellious teenager was because she never got the childhood she deserved—she never got the appreciation she deserved for doing everything she has done for him over the years—she never felt the love of a real family—she never felt what it was like to grow into the person she was supposed to become.

In the matter of days, she had went from being a free-spirited child to her little sister' caretaker and her father' little servant. The person she had grown into was entirely his fault, and now that she was rebelling against him, he didn't know what to do with her.

"I wonder why that is."

"Don't get smart with me, Lois. I want you to go back to base right this second, and I don't want to hear any complaints. You'll be staying there until I return in a few days."

Lois crossed her arms over her chest, and lifted her chin, defiantly up at him. "I'm not going back there."

"Yes. You are. You were never supposed to be here in the first place. I want you to leave right now. No matter how much you want to stay, you can't. If I find out that you pulled another stunt like this when I get back, then there will be consequences."

Of course, there would be, she thought to herself, there was always consequences when it came to him.

There was a small part of herself that was tempted to just listen to him and go back to base, but the other, much larger, part of herself refused to listen to his demands, besides she had other plans for the next few days.

But…

He didn't need to know about that.

It was quite obvious that he would be more than a little pissed when he found out, but at least she would be with someone that didn't make her think of the life she wished she could escape from.

"Whatever you say, General."

Without waiting for his response, she quickly walked away from him, feeling pure anger and utter frustration consume every being of her body not only from the fact that he had ordered her to do something she didn't want to do, but also because she had been stupid enough to get caught.

If she would have just avoided this event altogether than she wouldn't be in this situation, but then she wouldn't have met him—met Clark, and honestly, meeting him was the best thing that happened tonight.

It didn't matter.

None of it.

No matter what she wouldn't be going back to that base, instead she was going to take the next bus to Smallville, where she would spend the remainder of her time in this state with her cousin.

Her father would realize she was gone in a few days, and he was bound to be even more furious that he was right now, but nothing was going to stop her from getting what she wanted.

She would be spending time with her cousin if it was the last thing she did on this Earth.

No one.

Not her father.

Not a single soul was going to stop her.

* * *

As soon as Clark walked down the several concrete stairs, he glanced at everything he could see from this particular spot, and he was quite amazed not only at the size of the city, but the beauty of it as well. It had definitely been a pretty great first time to the city, especially meeting the feisty Lois Lane.

"Well, welcome to Metropolis." That sentiment died shortly as soon as he noticed a homeless man sleeping on a bench less than three feet away from him. "More or less."

All of a sudden, the sound of metal crashing against metal caught his attention, and he immediately noticed that a metro bus was headed straight for the homeless man, knocking out every single car, sign and cone in its path.

He quickly checked his surroundings, making sure that no one was around him, not noticing the rage-filled and determined brunette walking down the stairs towards the main street, and darted directly in front of the bus with his superspeed before stopping it dead in its tracks with his body.

Once he was positive that the bus had come to a complete stop, he backed away from the wreckage, and made sure that the driver wasn't hurt, but before he could make another move, he heard a familiar voice coming from directly behind him. "Oh my god!"

_**If anyone read my story, A Summer in Love, you'll notice the similarities in the way Lois found out that Clark has abilities, but in a lot of ways it's different. In order for things to change in this particular episode of SV, Lois needed to find out right from the start. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter one **_


	3. Chapter Two

_**The Beginning of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Two: **_

Lois was completely and utterly frustrated, as she walked down the many concrete stairs towards the main street. It wasn't the fact that her father had once again told her to do something she didn't want to do that was frustrating her. It was the fact that she had been dumb enough to get caught in the first place.

She should have known better.

But she had allowed her curiosity of this Museum Exhibition and her attraction towards the mysterious man, Clark Kent to distract her.

A part of herself knew that she never should have come here in the first place, but the other part of herself was glad that she did, even though it meant getting caught by her father. Not only because the little bit of time she spent here was quite interesting, but also because she had met him—met Clark, and that had honestly been the best thing that happened to her tonight.

He was one hell of a mystery.

That was one of the first things she noticed about the man.

Any other man would confront a woman he had feelings for, but not Clark Kent.

What was so different about him? Why was he so mysterious?

She didn't know, and she highly doubted that she would ever figure it out.

Even though, she was feeling quite frustrated with the mere fact that her father had caught her, and the fact that she would probably never see the man that caught her attention, immediately again she was also feeling pure determination rush through her veins at the thought of the adventure ahead of her.

No matter what she would be making it to that small-town her cousin loved so much, and she would be spending most if not all of her time with her, of course, it wouldn't take her father long to find her as soon as he realized that she was gone.

He wasn't stupid.

He knew that she had strong ties to two people in state, and it wouldn't take him longer than an hour to figure out where she had disappeared to.

He would be angry, but she didn't really care at this point in time.

She was determined to enjoy her few days here with her only and favorite cousin.

Nothing was going to stop her.

Every single one of her thoughts came to an abrupt halt, as she made it to the sidewalk before a wide smile graced her lips when she set her hazel eyes on the man, who had surprised, intrigued and interested her in more ways than one, and she was milliseconds away from making her presence known, but whatever she was going to say was lost on her as soon as she realized that a metro bus was heading straight towards some homeless man sleeping on a bench.

Oh my god! She screamed, internally before taking a few steps closer to the street, intending to tell the man she had just met to get out of the way, but her words were caught in her throat, as she watched him do something completely and utterly unbelievable.

Clark quickly checked his surroundings, not noticing her standing a few feet away from him before he darted directly in front of the bus in a burst of speed, and stopped it dead in it's tracks with his body.

Her eyes widened.

Her mouth dropped open.

What the hell just happened?

She watched as he stepped away from the wreckage, checked on the unconscious driver, and glanced over towards the homeless man, who was still sleeping, peacefully like nothing had ever happened.

What just happened? How did he do that? What was he?

There was a part of herself that knew she probably shouldn't say anything since this was most likely something that he never, ever wanted anyone to witness, but the other part of herself couldn't quench the curiosity that was burning deep inside of her, and she wanted answers to the thousands of questions that were running through her mind from what she had just witnessed.

She uttered the first thing that came to mind, "Oh my god!"

Clark froze in his spot, as he heard the familiar voice, which was laced with fear, shock, confusion and intrigue coming from directly behind him before he mentally berated himself for being so careless.

He should have made absolute sure that no one was out here before he used his abilities, but would that have stopped him from saving this man?

Probably not, he thought to himself before very, very slowly turning around to face the beautiful woman, who had intrigued him from the second he laid his eyes on her, hoping and praying that she didn't see everything, but as soon as her shock-filled eyes met his he knew that she had seen everything.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

"Lois…"

Lois was at a complete loss for words, as she stared at him, and she was half tempted to bombard him with questions, but the expression of fear plastered across his face made her inquisitive nature calm down, slightly. "What-what the hell just happened? How-how did you do that? Why aren't you hurt?"

Clark gulped, loudly at her onslaught of questions before taking a few tentative steps towards, feeling more than a little relieved at the fact that she didn't back away from him in fear, actually, she moved closer to him, and that calmed his demeaner, slightly, but it still didn't squelch the pure and utter fear he was feeling.

What was she thinking? What was she going to do? Was she going to tell someone?

"Um, Lois. I, um, I can explain."

Lois narrowed her eyes at him, and crossed her arms over her chest, as an expression of curiosity slowly formed across her face. "Damn straight your going to explain, buckaroo, but which part are you going to explain first? The fact that you sped in front of a moving bus? The fact that you stopped it from hitting that man with your body? Or the fact that you walked away like it didn't even affect you?"

"All of it. I'll explain everything, but not here."

She glanced around their surroundings before locking eyes with him. "What? Scared someone might overhear?"

"It's complicated. My parents will kill me if they found out that someone saw me doing that."

Figures his parents would know, she thought to herself, this wasn't something a person could keep from people they live with on a daily basis.

"Fine. Where do you want to go?"

He was thoughtful for a few seconds, attempting to figure out where the hell he was going to take her and what the hell he was going to tell her, but before he could say anything hoards of people starting rushing out of the Museum, and he did the only thing he could do in a situation like this…he rushed towards her, wrapped his arms around her, catching her completely off guard and super sped them away from the scene.

* * *

Amongst the crowd of curious bystanders circling around the demolished bus, an undercover Metropolis police officer, who had been hidden behind some bushes during the scene of the crash, slowly approached the wreckage, and touched the metal before yanking his hand away from the scorching heat.

Who was that kid? What was he? How the hell did he survive this? What did that young girl have to do with this?

He didn't know, but he was going to find out.

Phelan glanced towards the direction they had disappeared with a slow and wicked smile gracing his lips.

This young man could help him in more ways than one, and he intended on using his gifts to his full advantage. If he refused his offer, then he would have something or rather someone that would give him incentive to go along with his plans…the young girl he had whisked away.

* * *

Not too long after super speeding them away from the scene he had stopped and caused, Clark came to a complete stop in his loft or what he had dubbed his 'Fortress of Solitude', released his strong hold on her, and took a few steps away from her, not entirely prepared for the reaction she would have towards the series of events that had happened.

What was she going to do? What was she thinking? Was she going to tell someone what she had witnessed him do?

Honestly, all those questions have been bombarding his mind ever since he realized that she had seen him do something he never wanted anyone to see, but now that they were completely alone those questions were magnified, and he had hoped that getting them out of there would calm his nervousness, but no time in the world could prepare him for a moment like this.

As soon as Lois gained her composure from literally being swept off her feet by the man standing directly in front of her, she locked her hazel eyes onto his terrified ones, and glared, heatedly at him. "What the hell, Clark!"

"Lois, I need you to calm down."

"Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down? You literally just sped us away from there! You could at least warn a girl before you do something like that!"

"There really wasn't a way I could have warned you, besides even I did you would still be freaked out."

"Clearly." She crossed her arms over her chest, as she stared, curiously at him. "Now, care to explain why you just grabbed and dragged me to god knows where? You know, this could be considered kidnapping."

A heavy sigh escaped past his lips. "I didn't kidnap you. I needed to make sure that you didn't say anything to anyone."

She rolled her eyes. "Who was I going to tell?"

"I don't know. Your father maybe."

Those words caused her to chuckle, but there was absolutely no amusement in her tone of voice. "My father? That's a joke. That man doesn't even know about half the things I have done, so what makes you think I would tell him about something that I don't even understand?"

He shrugged his shoulders, causing her to roll her eyes, dramatically before she glanced around her surroundings with a curious gaze, instantly realizing that they were in a barn of some kind. "Where did you take me anyways?"

Honestly, he didn't know why he brought her to the one place where they could get caught by his parents, but it was past midnight, so there was a good chance that they were sleeping, and he didn't really know where else to take her.

It's not like he could just leave her there.

She had witnessed him using more than one of his abilities, and he needed to make sure that she didn't tell anyone.

This was the only place he could think of in that moment.

"Um, this is my loft."

Her eyes widened, slightly. "You took me home? I thought you said that your parents would kill you if they found out?"

"They would, but their sleeping, so that's not a problem."

She nodded and turned away from him before glancing around the entire loft, noticing that it was kind of designed like a bedroom.

It was a nice little set up, she thought to herself, it was a lot like the treehouse her and her cousin had when they were younger.

"So? Where are we exactly?"

"This is a small-town not too far from Metropolis. Smallville to be exact."

She quickly turned around towards him from his words. "Did you just say Smallville?"

He nodded.

A wide grin spread out across her face before she shook her head from side to side from the mere coincidence. "Well, it seems that we would have ran into each other again, even if I hadn't witnessed what I did."

A frown formed on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I was planning on coming to this small-town of yours. You see, I have some strong memories in the city with my cousin, and when I found out that my father was dragging me here, I intended on coming to this small-town to visit her, but lucky for me you saved me some time by dragging me here. It would have taken me a few hours, but you managed to bring me to one place I wanted to be in a matter of seconds."

"Why would you want to come to Smallville?"

"To visit my cousin, of course. She's lived here for a few years now."

That was intriguing, he thought to himself, not only did he bring her here for his own well-being, but he also brought her to the one place she wanted to be.

What were the odds of that happening?

"Who's your cousin?"

"I highly doubt you would know her."

"Try me. This is a small-town. Everyone knows everyone here. If she's the same age as you then I probably know her."

"Fine," she succumbed to him. "Her name is Chloe Sullivan."

His mouth dropped open from her words.

It was one thing to meet and connect with a beautiful woman at a Museum, but it was something else entirely to learn that she was related to one of his closest friends.

What were the chances of that happening? Was it just a coincidence?

He wasn't too sure about that.

For some reason he got the feeling that they were supposed to meet not only because she was related to his best friend, but also because he had a feeling deep inside that she was going to bring some much needed liveliness into his life.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say that Chloe Sullivan is your cousin?"

She nodded. "Do you know her?"

A small smile graced his lips, as he shook his head from side to side in complete and utter fascination. "You could say that. Your cousin happens to be my best friend."

Her eyes widened, slightly, as his words reminded her of several conversations, they had had about some guy that her cousin spend most of her time with outside and inside those school walls, and honestly, she didn't understand why she couldn't put the pieces together when he uttered his name. She knew it sounded familiar, but never in a million years would she have thought that it was the man she met tonight.

"Your him."

He frowned at her words. "What?"

"You're the man my cousin has a crush on."

Those words caused him to choke on his own saliva before he shuffled his feet, uncomfortably, and averted his eyes to the ground like that was the most unbelievable thing he has ever heard. "Chloe doesn't have a crush on me."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Figures as much. Your dafter than I thought you were."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you can't see what's right in front of your face. You have one girl that you obviously have feelings for, and you have another that has had a crush on you from the moment she met you." She groaned, loudly, and threw her hands up into the air. "Men. I swear. Every single one of you can't tell the difference between friendship and romantic feelings."

"I know the difference."

She smirked over at him. "Oh really? Then why didn't you know that she has a crush on you?"

"She never said anything."

"And there lies your problem. A girl doesn't have to say anything to prove to a man that she likes them. It's all in the way she talks and acts around them. Can you honestly say that you've never gotten the vibe that Chloe has deeper feelings for you?"

He was thoughtful for a few seconds. "No. Not really. I mean, sometimes she looks at me with this weird expression or says something that catches me off guard, but I never thought it meant she had feelings for me."

"Predictable." She narrowed her eyes at the man standing in front of her, as a particular thought occurred to her. "Does Chloe know? I mean, does she know about you?"

"No. No one knows except my parents."

"And now me."

Silence consumed them, as they stared at each other, their minds unable to think of anything other than their current predicament, and honestly, neither of them knew how to start the conversation that obviously needed to be addressed.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, which was something that irritated her more than anything else in this world, Lois blurted out the first thing that came to her mind—the one thing they were both refusing to discuss. "Okay. I think that's enough small talk. You brought me here to explain, so start explaining, farm boy."

Here we go, he thought to himself, as he gulped, silently from the fiery look she was giving him.

It was time to give her some answers.

During the entire time they've been in each other's company he had attempted figuring out what he was going to tell her.

Did he tell her the truth, or did he lie?

On one hand, he could just tell her that he was a meteor freak, which would be a believable story as soon as she realized that this town was filled with people, who had all kinds of different abilities.

But…

He was tired of all the secrets and lies.

On another hand, he could tell her the truth—the whole truth. She would either look at him like a freak and never speak to him again or she would tell someone like her cousin or father, and the life he knows would be over, but he didn't see any of those things happening.

Ever since, she witnessed him using his abilities she hasn't looked at him differently or even behaved differently around him, actually, the way she was acting and teasing him was the same thing she had done when they had first met inside the Museum.

Would her knowing the truth change anything at all?

He didn't know, but he did know one thing for an absolute fact…it would be nice to have someone that wasn't his parents to confide in—to be completely himself around, and for some reason he got the feeling that she was going to be a person he could be honest with.

The question was…could he trust her?

"I want to tell you. I really do, which is quite surprising since I've never wanted to tell anyone before, but how do I know you won't turn around and tell the whole world my secret?"

"Do you really think that little of me?"

"I don't even know you."

Good point, she thought to herself.

"True, but just think of the things that you do know about me, and not the things you don't know."

A concentrated gaze took over his features, as he thought of her words, and realized that she brought up a pretty good point. He might not know her every well or at all, actually, but he did know a few things from the short time they've spent together.

She was fierce.

She was stubborn.

She seemed to be defiant.

She seemed to be an honest person.

Maybe he could trust her—maybe he could be honest with her, but he couldn't say anything related to the truth until he knew for sure that she would keep this to herself.

"Look, this is something that I've never told anyone. For good reason to. How can I be sure that you won't tell anyone?"

A heavy sigh escaped past her lips, as she took a few steps closer to him. "I'll give you three reasons why you can trust me. Firstly, did I run in the other direction when I witnessed what you did?"

He shook his head from side to side.

"Did I look at you like a freak or am I looking at you like a freak right now?"

He shook his head again.

"And did I give you the impression that I would tell anyone?" When he shook his head once again, she continued, "Then those are all the reasons you need to trust me. I'm not going to force you to tell me anything you don't want to. I believe in people having a choice, so I'm not going to guilt trip you into being honest with me. Whether you choose to keep this to yourself or to be completely honest with me it won't change anything. It's your choice. Whatever you tell me or don't tell me I think we're going to end up being great friends."

He stared at her in complete and utter awe.

This woman was amazing.

She wasn't terrified of him.

She wasn't looking at him like a freak.

And even after everything she has witnessed, she wanted to be his friend.

What were the chances of him meeting someone like her ever again?

Very low, he thought to himself.

Lois Lane was one in a million.

In that moment, all those questions that have been bombarding his mind from the moment she witnessed him using his abilities were answered.

He could trust her.

He could be honest with her.

She wouldn't break that trust.

She wouldn't tell anyone.

"You really mean all of that?"

She nodded.

He took a deep, deep breath before blurting out the one thing he never dreamt of telling another soul. "I'm not from around here, Lois."

"You mean Kansas?"

"Not exactly. I'm not from Kansas, actually, I'm not from Earth."

Lois stared at him for several seconds, as his words rang in her head over and over again, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop herself from getting a little angry from his words, that were obviously lies. "Right, and I'm from a far away planet millions of light years away from here."

He frowned at her, not expecting that reaction whatsoever. "What?"

"Your unbelievable, Clark. I know I told you that you had a choice in being honest with me, which you do, but you could have at least told me that you didn't want to tell me instead of feeding me some lie."

"You don't believe me?"

"No, Clark. I don't believe you. I thought we had build some common ground. I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, hell, we don't even know each other, but you could at least have the audacity to tell me that instead of lying to me."

Clark watched as she started to walk away from him, and there was a small part of himself that wanted to just let her leave—to let her believe that he was lying to her, but the other, much larger part of himself couldn't let her leave unless she believed him.

He liked her.

He could see her becoming a great friend to him.

If there was a chance that they would be seeing more of each other, especially since she was related to his best friend, he couldn't let her walk away without knowing the full truth.

He didn't want the beginning of a great friendship to end like this.

He wanted her to believe him.

He needed her to believe him.

"Lois! Wait! Don't leave!" When she stopped before taking that first step down the stairs, he continued, "I can prove it to you."

"This should be good," she muttered under her breath before turning around to face him. "Okay. Prove it to me then."

"Follow me." He held out his hand, which she hesitated, slightly on taking before slipping her hand into his, feeling a little anxious at the thought of where he was intending on taking her, but all thoughts of nervousness was thrown out the window when he took her down to the storm cellar and revealed the one thing she never, ever thought she would see in her lifetime.

An honest to god spaceship.

She stared wide-eyed at the small, grey aircraft for several seconds before slowly making her way towards it, and ran her fingers over the smooth surface. "You came to Earth in this?"

He followed her until he was standing on the other side of her. "Yeah. I was only three when I landed here."

Her mind went into overdrive, as she stared at the spaceship in complete and utter amazement, and everything she had once believed—everything she had once thought to be true came crashing down around her.

It was true.

He wasn't from Earth.

He wasn't human.

She took several steps away from the ship. "You're really an alien?"

He cringed, slightly at her use of that word. "In a sense, yes, but I don't like calling myself an alien."

A weird expression slowly appeared on her face, as she looked at him for the first time since coming down here. "Then what do you call yourself?"

"An intergalactic traveler."

She wanted to chuckle at that, but the look on his face when she had practically yelled at him for lying to her came rushing to the forefront of her mind, and she felt like slapping herself for putting him in a situation like that.

She had done the one thing she promised that she wasn't going to do.

What was wrong with her?

"I'm sorry, Clark."

He frowned at her before moving closer to her, feeling a little relived that she didn't back away from him like he thought she might after knowing everything. "Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for forcing you to tell me the truth."

"You didn't force me to do anything, Lois. I wanted to tell you, but I will admit that it caught me off guard when you didn't believe me."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know. Not that reaction."

"Well, there's a first for everything." She smiled for a split second before it faded. "I'm sorry for not believing you."

He smiled, softly. "It's okay, Lois. I didn't want to believe it either when I found out."

"But you've had years to get used to it."

"Try a few months. My parents only told me once I started having more and more questions about the things I could do."

Her eyes locked onto his before she tilted her head to one side, slightly. "What things can you do?"

He hesitated, slightly. "Um, I'll tell you everything, but can we go back to the loft? I don't really like being down here."

That made absolutely no sense, she thought to herself, it didn't really matter where they had this conversation, but she relegated to letting him take her wherever he wanted. This was his story to tell, and she wasn't going to judge him on where he felt comfortable revealing sides of himself no one, but his parents probably knew.

As soon as they were back in the loft, she turned around towards him with an inquisitive gaze lingering in her eyes, and stared at him, as he stood there like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say or how he was supposed to start this conversation. "Clark. You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to."

Clark quickly shook away the nerves he was feeling. "No. I want to tell you everything."

It was silent between them for several seconds before he took a seat on the old, dusty couch, and patted the seat next to him, wanting her to sit down with him, which she didn't hesitate on doing.

"Ever since I can remember I've always had the abilities you witnessed. Superspeed and super strength. It wasn't until I was hit by a car going sixty miles an hour that I started questioning why I was so different. That's when my parents told me the truth. I didn't want to believe it, but it's kind of hard not to when you can run faster than the speed of sound and lift things thirty times your body weight."

She chuckled, softly at that. "Is that all you can do?"

He shook his head from side to side. "I can also see through things."

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers before she curled her knees up to her chest, attempting to cover her chest from his view.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Relax, Lois. You have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to do that to you or anyone else. I have to focus."

His words caused her to relax somewhat before she lowered her feet back to the ground, and smirked at him. "So, you've never used it to sneak a peak through women's clothes?"

"God, no. Well, I mean, when it first started happening, I did look through a wall into the girl's locker room, but it was completely accidental."

"Sure it was."

"It was," he defended himself.

"But I'm pretty sure you enjoyed it."

"Shut up!"

A wide grin spread out across her face before she decided to change the subject not because she didn't enjoy teasing him, but because he seemed to be a little uncomfortable by their conversation. "So, when did you develop this ability?"

He sighed, feeling thankful that she had moved on from that uncomfortable topic. "Not that long ago. My parents think that I'll keep developing more abilities, but I really hope that isn't true."

"Why?"

"I'm already a freak. I don't need more things to add to it."

"You're not a freak, Clark."

"Yes, I am. I have abilities that no other person has. Sometimes I wish I was just normal instead of the person that I am."

That was it, she thought to herself, as she stood up and stared down at him with her hands on her hips.

"You are not a freak, Clark. Ever since we started this conversation you've made it clear that you think of yourself as some kind of monster, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Your not a freak. You are someone with amazing abilities, and you use them to save people like that homeless man tonight. You shouldn't be looking at these abilities as a burden. You should be looking at them as a gift."

He frowned at her. "They aren't a gift, Lois. They are a burden. I can't even tell the closest people to me the truth."

"You mean my cousin?"

He nodded.

"You told me, so how hard can it really be?"

"Your cousin wants to be an investigative reporter. What makes you think she wouldn't tell the world my secret?"

"Do you really think she would do something like that? She's your best friend. I know my cousin. She wouldn't do that. You barely know me, and you told me, so what is stopping you from being honest with her?"

"Your different. You witnessed me using my abilities—"

"So, that's the only reason you told me?" She questioned him.

"No. I told you because I trust you."

"But you don't trust my cousin?"

This was getting completely out of hand, he thought to himself before sighing, heavily. "Can we agree to disagree on this subject?"

"Only if you admit that I'm right and your wrong."

"Never gonna happen, Lane."

She chuckled, loudly before plopping down next to him. "Fine. I won't bring it up again. At least for a little while, but you have to admit that your reasons for not telling her are weak."

"Thank you," he told her, completely ignoring her last comment.

"So, you've told me everything that you can do, and it seems like your practically immortal. Is that true?"

"Not exactly. I'm not sure if you know, but there was a major meteor shower several years ago that practically devastated this town."

"I only know that it happened twelve or something years ago. Chloe told me all about it…" She trailed off, as she saw an expression of pure guilt spread out across his features. "Wait a minute. That's how you got here? A meteor shower?"

He nodded. "I don't know why I was sent here or where I really came from. All I really know is that I landed here during that meteor shower and that the things that happen in this town are all my fault."

She frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"There are green meteor rocks that came down with me, and they gave people abilities. Chloe and my friend, Pete refer to them as meteor freaks, but I don't particularly like that term since I'm not exactly normal, and am more than a freak than they know."

Back to this again, she thought to herself, but decided against confronting him on the way he saw himself, knowing that whatever she told him would go in one ear and out the other, and focused on what he was trying to tell her. "Are they dangerous?"

He nodded. "It's my fault that this happened to them."

She sighed, heavily from the fact that he either wallowed in self-pity because he saw himself as a freak or blamed himself for things that weren't his fault. "How is that your fault? You were just a child. You couldn't have possibly known that this was going to happen. Just because you came with those meteor fragments doesn't mean that it's your fault that they affected other people."

"But it is my fault."

"No, it's not. You had no control over what was going to happen, so stop blaming yourself for something you didn't cause." She noticed that her words had absolutely no affect on him, and as much as she wanted to make him believe her words, she knew that he wouldn't believe her, so instead of convincing him she decided to change subjects. "What do these rocks have to do with you anyways?"

"Well, you asked if I was invulnerable to everything, and in a way, I am, but those rocks are harmful to me. My parents and I believe that they came from wherever I came from. It's like a pain I've never felt before."

A fear she had never felt in her entire life consumed her before she mustered the ability to speak, "Do you think they could kill you?"

"I don't know."

Her heart dropped to her stomach at the mere thought of those rocks killing him. She might not know him very well, but in the short time they have spent together she has come to care about him, and she didn't want anything to happen to him.

He noticed the look of fear lingering in her eyes, and placed his hand on top of hers, hoping that would help quench the uneasiness she was feeling. "Don't worry, Lois. I don't think one of those rocks could kill me."

"What about a field full of them?"

"I don't know, but I don't plan on being around them that long to find out."

It was nice to hear, but it still didn't stop the fear she was feeling deep inside of herself from eating away at her heart. "Just promise that you'll be careful."

A wide smile spread out across his face. "Is that a hint of sentiment I hear in your voice?"

"Just promise me, Kent."

"I promise, Lois."

Silence consumed them for several minutes before she slowly stood up, and walked over towards the window, staring up into the star-filled sky. Clark quickly followed her, and placed his hands on the wooden beam before glancing over at her, who seemed to be completely lost in thought. "How are you talking all of this?"

She sighed. "As well as a person can, I guess. Your amazing, Clark, and it has nothing to do with what you can do. You seem like a genuinely honest and good person. You might be a little lost when it comes to certain things, but I plan on fixing those little problems of yours."

A smirk spread out across his face. "You plan on sticking around to do that?"

"For a little while. At least until my father finds out where I disappeared to."

Guilt consumed him, as her words reverberated in his mind, and he momentarily regretted practically kidnapping her, but honestly, the past few hours with her have been great, actually, they've been better than great.

It was like he could be completely himself around her, and he would never regret spending this time with her or telling her the truth about himself.

She accepted him and that's all that mattered.

"Do you want to go back to the city, so you don't get into trouble? I'll take you back if you want."

She shook her head from side to side. "I was already planning on coming out here. I'm not letting my father stop me from visiting my cousin. It might only be for a few days, but I want to make the most of those few days."

A soft smile graced her lips. "So far, it's getting off to a great start."

He smiled right back at her before his smile fell when a thought occurred to him. "That means you'll be leaving soon."

The disappoint lingering in his eyes was palpable, and she pushed him, playfully, hoping that would end the disenchantment they were both feeling at the moment. "Don't worry, Clark. I wont disappear forever. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again real soon."

He really, really hoped so.

He liked her more than he probably should, and he didn't want to lose her after just finding her.

They might not know each other, but he just knew she was going to become someone he wanted—needed in his crazy life.

"So, um, I've pretty much told you everything about me, but I know next to nothing about you."

A heavy sigh escaped past her lips, as she stared up into the sky. "There isn't much to know. I had a pretty happy childhood until I was six years old. My mom was diagnosed with cancer one year before that. My entire life changed when she died."

Clark felt for her in his mind, heart and soul. No one should ever have to deal with the pain of losing a parent at such a young age, but she had, and in a lot of ways it explained at least part of her personality. "I'm sorry, Lois. I couldn't even imagine what that is like."

"And I hope you don't. At least not for a long time." She took a deep breath, attempting to squelch the sadness she was feeling before she continued, "After that, my father kind of lost his touch on how to be a loving father, you know the person he was before she passed away. He treated Lucy, my sister and I like burdens, he threw himself into work and he forced me to become almost like a mother to her. It was hard at first, but we both learned that things would never change."

"Is it still like that?"

"No. We're older now. Things changed when my father decided to send her away to some boarding school in Switzerland. He tells me that it was because he wanted her to have a better life, but I know deep down that it was because he didn't have the time to watch over both of us."

What kind of father did that? Did he only care about himself?

He didn't even know this man, but he knew one thing for a fact…he didn't like him.

Not in the slightest.

"What happened to you after that?"

"Nothing good. I became his little soldier. He started throwing more and more responsibilities on me, and for a while I just did whatever he asked, but the second I realized that I was basically just a piece of spare luggage to him I started disobeying every single one of his orders, and doing things that he prohibits me from doing."

"Let me guess, he told you not to come to the Museum, but you did it anyways?"

She nodded. "I guess that's why I'm so defiant."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have met you if you didn't defy him."

A wide grin appeared on her face. "Even after everything that happened?"

"More so because of that."

"I'm glad I met you too, Clark. Even if I didn't come tonight, I'm pretty sure we would have met one way or another. You are best friends with my cousin. It might have been days, weeks or years later, but it still would have happened."

He just smiled at her.

They both looked out across the darkened cornfields for several minutes, in complete and utter silence before she slowly backed away from the window. "Well, I should probably get going. I'd like to surprise Chloe and Gabe before the night ends."

Clark glanced down at the watch on his wrist. "Um, Lois. I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. It's past three in the morning…"

Her eyes widened. "We've been talking for over two hours?"

He nodded. "I guess time flies when your having a good time."

She smiled at him, but frowned not even two seconds later, as she looked around the loft, wondering where she would be staying before her eyes landed on the old couch, and sighed, heavily at the prospect of sleeping on that uncomfortable thing. "Well, it looks like I'll be bumming it out in the barn tonight. I've slept in worse conditions."

Clark glanced towards the couch before looking back at her. "If you think I'm letting you sleep out here you've completely lost your mind. It's the middle of January. You'll get sick if you stay out here."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Your chivalry is nice, Clark, but I'll be fine."

He stood his ground. "Your going into the house."

"Didn't you say that your parents would kill you if they found out that you told someone about your true origins?" At his nod, she pressed further, "Then this is the best plan. I'll be off the farm before they even wake up. They will never know I was here, and they will never find out that I know anything."

She had a point, he thought to himself, but he still didn't like it.

"Fine, but I'm staying out here with you."

"Oh really? Where are you going to sleep?"

"I don't need to sleep."

"Of course you need sleep. Everyone needs sleep…" She trailed off, as a thought occurred to her. "Another one of those abilities of yours?"

He nodded again.

"And the mystery of Clark Kent continues to grow more and more."

"I'm not that mysterious."

"Yes, you are."

He chuckled, softly, and shook his head from side to side before sitting back down on the couch. "I cant be that mysterious. I mean, you already know everything about me."

"True," she told him as she sat down next to him. "Even though you've told me all sorts of things there is one thing I'm curious about."

"What's that?"

"Why haven't you told the girl I saw you with at the Museum?"

A frown took over his features. "Are you talking about Lana?"

She nodded.

Honestly, he hadn't had a fleeting thought of her ever since she walked away from him at the Museum, which was really weird because she was always on his mind, but maybe it had something to do with the beautiful woman sitting next to him.

She was quite amazing.

It could just be that she was distracting him from certain things that would normally be on his mind, but he had a feeling deep inside that it was something else entirely.

"Are you asking why I haven't told her the truth?"

She nodded again.

"I don't see the point. We're just friends."

"You told me, and we barely know each other."

"Your different. I'm pretty sure we've already established that, and I'm pretty sure we agreed that we wouldn't talk about this again."

"I promised for a little bit not forever," she corrected him before tilting her head to one side, slightly. "You like her, right?"

"I don't know. I guess."

"It's a yes or no question, Clark."

For some reason this particular conversation was making him very, very uncomfortable, and he didn't understand why he couldn't say the word he's known since he laid eyes on her when he was ten years old.

Was it because of her? Or was it because he just didn't want to discuss this?

He didn't know, but he did know that she wouldn't give this up until he answered her. "Yeah."

"Then what's the problem?"

A heavy sigh escaped past his lips. "The problem is that I don't know if I can trust her with this, hell, I don't think I can trust anyone besides my parents and now you with this. No one is going to react the same way you did. Not even Chloe."

"You have a point, Clark. Not everyone will react the same way I did, but you will never know unless you put yourself out there, and I don't mean to the world. I mean to the people that you care about. If you really wanted more than friendship then you wouldn't hesitate on telling her."

"Are you saying that I don't want more than friendship with her?"

She shook her head from side to side. "Not in the slightest. I don't know what you want or what you feel inside, but I think that when you meet that person, you'll know that she'll accept you whether your from Earth or not."

"I guess I'll find out that part once I figure out what I actually feel for her."

Lois couldn't help feeling a little jealous as they talked, but she quickly pushed it down, knowing that she couldn't think of him in that particular way. Not because he wasn't from Earth or because he had abilities, but because she would be leaving in a few days, and there would be no point in starting something with him.

She would be leaving.

He obviously had feelings for this Lana girl.

But, more importantly, her cousin had a crush on him.

There were too many things standing in the way, besides they had only just met, and just because they had spent most of the night together that didn't mean she had feelings for him. She liked him, of course, but they were friends, and they would probably remain that way for the foreseeable future.

"How do you know?"

"Just think of it this way. You knew you could trust me when you told me, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, that is all you'll need to figure out before being honest with her. If you don't think you can trust her with the biggest part of your life than that just means she isn't the one for you."

He stared at her for the longest time before shaking his head from side to side with a soft smile playing on his lips. "You know, you can be quite insightful when you want to be."

"I know. It's one of my best qualities." She curled her knees closer to her body, and yawned, loudly before shuffling towards him, cuddling against his side, as her head rested on his shoulder.

His eyes widened to the size of saucers from their close proximity, his stomach twisted in thousands of knots and his heart skipped a few beats just from her touch.

What the hell was happening?

"Uh, w-wh-what are you—"

"Oh my god!" She interrupted him. "Your so warm! It's like you're a pillow, blanket and bed all wrapped up into one. What are you? A heat generator?"

He couldn't help but chuckle, loudly at her unique way of wording that. "I never get cold, and before you ask. Yes. It's another one of the things that make me mysterious according to you."

"At first, I was a little hesitant on sleeping out here, but now you just made it ten times better." She moved closer to him, softly closed her eyes, and was asleep within minutes.

After a few minutes, Clark had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do, as he sat frozen in his spot, while she remained in her current position.

On one hand, he was feeling all sorts of things he has never felt in his entire life, and it had everything to do with the woman that was affecting him mentally and physically in several different ways, but on the other hand, he didn't want to move from this spot.

It felt nice having her this close to him.

Stop it, he scolded himself.

That was something he couldn't be thinking about.

He quickly pushed down his confusing feelings before focusing on the task at hand…she couldn't stay in this position all night long.

"Lois."

Silence.

"Lois. Come on."

Silence.

He glanced down at her, and realized that she had already fallen asleep.

Oh great, he thought to himself.

What was he supposed to do now?

He didn't want to wake her up, and he definitely wasn't going to leave her all by herself. It was cold and she could get sick. There was only one thing he could do…stay in this position until he was forced to wake her up. Preferably before his parents woke up.

After covering her up with a blanket, he stared down at her sleeping form with a soft smile gracing his lips, his mind unable to stop thinking of the things that have happened from the moment he set his eyes on her to this moment right here.

The moment she fell asleep on him.

She was beautiful.

She was amazing.

She accepted him.

She didn't judge him.

But, more importantly, he could picture them becoming great friends. Maybe more.

As soon as the thought entered his mind, he quickly shook it away, knowing that they could never go there. Not only because she would only be here for a few days, but also because he liked Lana. He's always liked Lana.

But…

Lois had erupted things inside of him that no other woman has ever made him feel, and she didn't even seem fazed by his true alien heritage. She was one in a million, and he highly doubted that he would ever meet someone like her again.

He liked her.

He knew that much, but he couldn't possibly have feelings for her after one night, right?

He didn't know, but he had the next few days to figure that out. Even if it turned out that he did, he wouldn't do anything about it, besides she probably only saw him as her cousin' best friend and hopefully new friend.

Being her friend was the best thing he could hope for.

With that thought in mind, he softly closed his eyes, and fell asleep, even though he was supposed to be the one that stayed awake.

* * *

The next morning, Martha and Jonathan, who were starting to get worried about their son since he hadn't slept in his bed and neither of them had heard him come home last night, walked up the loft stairs, thinking that he fell asleep up there like he's done a million times before, but stopped dead in their tacks at what they were witnessing.

Their son, Clark was sleeping on the couch in a sitting position with a woman they had never seen in their entire life, directly next to him, actually, she was practically laying on top of him.

They turned towards each other with questioning gazes before simultaneously thinking…what the hell was going on?

_**I attempted making this scene a little different from my story, A Summer in Love, but it's kind of difficult when the way Lois found out the truth are vaguely similar. Alas, I did include some differences. **_

_**I really didn't enjoy writing the Lana scene, but this is set in season one, so she is bound to come up. Just because Clark and Lois met that doesn't mean she won't be a factor, but I can say that she won't be a factor for very long. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter two **_


	4. Chapter Three

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Three: **_

The next morning, Martha and Jonathan were sitting down at the dining room table, enjoying some refreshing cups of coffee like they did every morning, in complete and utter silence, as their minds were consumed with thoughts of their son and his night out in Metropolis.

A few weeks ago, Clark had informed them that Lex invited him to the opening of his historical hall at the Museum, and they both had their own different reactions to that bit of news.

Martha had been all for her son going to Metropolis for the night, mainly because she held some good memories in the city, actually, that was where she laid her eyes on her handsome husband for the first time, but also because she knew that it was more than good to escape from the familiarity of your home-town from time to time, and she couldn't possibly say no to him when he have her those adorable puppy dog eyes of his.

He wanted to do this, and she was going to let him.

Jonathan, on the other hand, had been more than a little hesitant on allowing his son go to Metropolis for the night not only because it would be his first time in the city by himself, but also because he would be with Lex Luthor the entire night, and even though the man had proven himself to be sincere he couldn't help but dislike the man.

After much contemplation, he had decided that he needed to loosen his protective reigns on him since he was old enough to make his own decisions, even if he didn't agree with them all of the time.

Jonathan glanced over at his beautiful wife, who seemed to be completely lost in thought, as she sipped her coffee, and placed his cup on the wooden table before smiling, softly at her. "So, Martha. What are we having for breakfast?"

Martha shook away her thoughts before smiling right back at him. "The same thing we have almost every morning. I don't know why you ask that question every single day, especially when you already know the answer."

"Maybe I just want to hear your beautiful voice."

She couldn't help but smile at the man in front of her. He could be such a sweetheart when he wanted to be, and their son was following right in his footsteps, which would become beneficial when he found the person he was supposed to be with for the rest of his life. "You can be such a sweetheart when you want to be."

"He grinned, widely. "It's one of the many reasons you love me."

"Well, as much as I love you it doesn't change the fact that if you and our son don't start those chores neither of you will be getting any breakfast." A frown took over her features, as she realized that they haven't heard or even seen their son this morning, which was surprising since he was usually the first one awake in the morning. "Speaking of, where is that son of ours?"

Jonathan frowned at her words, also realizing that they haven't seen him since last night. "I don't know. Maybe he had a late night last night. I'll go check on him."

After she nodded at him, he slowly stood up before making his way up the wooden stairs, expecting his son to be passed out in his room, but found an empty room and more importantly, an empty bed instead.

Where was he?

He could feel the worry beginning to consume his insides, but quickly pushed that feeling down, knowing that it was never wise to jump to conclusions, besides it was very likely that he was already in the barn doing his chores.

It's not like anything serious could have happened last night, right?

When he walked back into the kitchen, he noticed that his wife was pulling out some necessities for breakfast out of the cabinets and refrigerator, and hesitated on saying anything to her, but reminded himself that everything was fine.

Their son was probably already doing his chores.

"He isn't in his room."

Martha stopped what she was doing, and turned around towards her husband with a worried expression slowly forming across her face. "Where could he possibly be?"

"I don't know, but let's not jump to conclusions. He's probably in the barn doing his chores or maybe be fell asleep in the loft you know that he's done that a few times."

"I know, but let's just make sure."

They quickly made their way towards the barn, hoping and praying that he was either doing his chores or sleeping in his loft, and felt relief course through their bodies when they saw him passed out on the couch, but that relief quickly transformed into confusion, as they took the last step up the stairs, their eyes widening from the compromising situation they were witnessing.

Their son, Clark was sleeping on the couch in a sitting position with a woman they had never seen in their entire life, directly next to him, actually, she was practically laying on top of him.

They turned towards each other with questioning gazes before simultaneously thinking…what the hell was going on?

As they stared at them, they contemplated what they should do about this little situation.

On one hand, they were more than a little curious regarding the reasons their son was sleeping with some random woman, but on the other, they weren't entirely sure what they were supposed to do in a situation like this since it has never happened until now.

"Well, at least we know that he's okay," Martha whispered.

"Okay?" Jonathan whispered back. "This is not okay, Martha. Our son is sleeping with some random woman."

"Well, it looks like they fell asleep on each other. I don't think anything happened between them."

"Even so. Clark knows the rules about having girls spend the night. Why would he bring her here? What is she doing here? Who the hell is she?"

Martha sighed, heavily at her husband, knowing that he wanted answers to every single one of those questions, but it's not like either party was conscious enough to give them those answers. "I don't know, Jonathan, but maybe we should wait until they wake up."

He stared at her like she had completely lost her mind. "Your joking, right? Aren't you curious to the reason our son is sleeping with some random woman?"

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure that there is a reasonable explanation for this."

There was a part of himself that knew she had a point, but the other part of himself wanted—needed to know what going on. After shaking his head from side to side, he kicked the wooden leg of the couch, which only caused the woman to groan, loudly before curling deeper into his side, but Clark, on the other hand, snapped his eyes open from the abrupt movement.

As soon as his sleepy aquamarine eyes landed on his parents, who were giving him two completely different looks, he knew that their brilliant plan of not getting caught was literally just thrown out the window. His mother was looking at him in confusion, and his father was looking at him in anger.

GULP!

He was definitely in big trouble, but as long as they didn't find out about the other little thing, he revealed to her last night then he wouldn't be in that much trouble. All he had to do was keep that little bit of information to himself, and hopefully Lois would do the same.

It couldn't be that hard, right?

"Mom. Dad. Um, I can explain…"

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at his son. "Damn straight your going to explain. What the hell is going on here?"

Martha placed her hands on his arm, attempting to calm him down. "Jonathan, you need to relax. You'll wake her up if you keep yelling like that."

"Well, she needs to wake up. I want answers and I want them now." He glanced over at the sleeping woman before locking eyes with his son. "Wake her up right this second, Clark Kent."

Lois shuffled a little closer to him, completely unaware of the situation that was happening around her, which caused Clark to look down at her, and smile at how peaceful she looked, but he quickly pushed that thought aside, knowing that she needed to wake up before his father did that for him. "Lois."

Lois groaned, softly before muttering, "Nuh-huh. Five more minutes, General."

Clark wanted to chuckle at her not only from the way she kept moving closer and closer to him, but also from the sleepy words she was mumbling.

It was so freaking adorable.

He quickly shook that thought away before focusing on the task at hand, and softly shook her shoulder. "Lois, come on. You need to wake up."

Lois frowned, immensely, as he shook her awake, and glared, heatedly at him when she opened her hazel eyes. "What? Can't you tell that I'm sleeping Clark!"

"Um, Lois…" He trailed off, as he glanced over at his parents.

Lois followed his gaze, immediately realizing that they weren't alone, and was rendered completely and utterly speechless from the sight of two unfamiliar people, who had to be his parents, staring at her before she quickly sat up, pushed herself off him, as her eyes locked onto theirs, nervously. "Um, Mr. Kent and Mrs. Kent I presume?"

Jonathan nodded his head. "You would be correct. I don't mean to be rude, young lady, but what are you doing on my farm, and more importantly, what are you doing sleeping with my son?"

Both of their eyes widened to the size of saucers from the implication behind his words, and they moved away from each other, as fast as possible like a shock of lightning had struck them before they spoke simultaneously, their words coming out jumbled.

"What? We weren't sleeping together. I mean, we didn't sleep together."

"We fell asleep. We weren't sleeping together. Nothing happened, I swear."

Martha glanced between the two of them with a confused expression, not understanding a single thing either of them had just uttered. "Okay. How about you just start at the beginning. One at a time, please."

"This might look bad, but I promise nothing happened."

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her. "Then how do you explain this?"

"We met at the Museum last night," Clark interjected. "She needed a place to stay since she's only here to visit her cousin."

"I was planning on leaving before either of you woke up not because I wanted to keep this a secret, but because I didn't want Clark to get into trouble. He was supposed to stay awake." She glanced over at him with a slight glare. "So much for that ability of being impervious to sleep."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back, and there was a small part of herself that had hoped his parents wouldn't understand her words, but she was proven wrong when she watched their eyes widen and their mouths drop open in shock.

It was one thing to have them find her practically sleeping on top of her son, but it was something else entirely to find out she knew about his true origins.

They were definitely in trouble now, she thought to herself.

Clark groaned, loudly, and dropped his head into his hands before glancing over at her with a scornful look. "Out of all the things you could have said you chose that?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry?"

Martha and Jonathan stared at them for the longest time, not able to believe the things they were hearing, actually, they couldn't believe it. Not only did they find their son in a compromising situation with a woman they didn't even know, but they also found out their son had revealed himself to her.

Why in the hell would he do that?

"She knows?"

Lois gulped, silently at the look on his face before very slowly standing up, and taking a few steps towards him. "Yes, I know everything, but you have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to say anything."

"Nothing to worry about? Really?" He glanced over at his son. "Why would you tell her? I thought we agreed that no one could know your secret, especially someone you don't even know."

Martha, who had been silent for most of this exchange, gripped his arm a little tighter. "Jonathan, calm down. I'm sure Clark had his reasons for telling her."

Jonathan ignored her words, as he stared at them, expectantly.

Clark noticed the anger lingering in his eyes and heard the disappoint in his voice before he quickly stood up, standing directly next to his new friend, as his heart pounded like a jackhammer inside of his chest. "Dad, I can explain."

"That's right, Your going to explain everything. I want you both inside that house right this second."

Martha grabbed her husband's hand, and led him outside, knowing that Clark and this mystery girl needed a minute to gather their composure before revealing everything that happened last night. She was curious, and even a little angry at her son, but deep inside she knew he had a good reason for telling this girl everything.

Soon they would find out why he had made a decision like this.

Was it because he was forced to? Or was it because he wanted to?

She didn't know, but they would find out soon enough.

As soon as they disappeared from their sights, Lois sighed, heavily, and glanced over at her new friend, who seemed to be completely miserable. "Well, I guess that could have went worse."

"Worse? Are you kidding me?" He quickly turned around towards her. "This is worse. I've never seen my father that angry in my entire life. Not only did he catch us sleeping on the couch together, but now he knows that I told you everything."

"Are you blaming me for this?"

"Well, you are the one that blurted it out."

She glared at him. "And you're the one that was supposed to stay awake, so how is this my fault?"

When he just turned away from her, deciding not to respond to her, she felt like she had disappointed him in some way, and that was the last thing she wanted to do, of course, it shouldn't really bother her since they only met last night, but the thought of him being angry with her terrified her, slightly.

She liked him.

She didn't want him to be mad at her.

She wanted to keep building their friendship.

She didn't want it to be ruined by one single argument.

"Clark? Are you mad at me?"

As soon as the words escaped from her mouth, he turned around towards her, his frustration dissipating and his gaze softening from the expression of pure fear that was plastered across her face and the hitch in her voice when she spoke before he took a few steps closer to her. "No, Lois. I'm not mad at you. I'm just frustrated by this entire situation. We had this whole plan and it blew up in our faces. I have no idea what I'm supposed to tell them."

"The truth. I'm sure they will understand."

He shook his head from side to side. "I don't think they will. They both want to protect my secret, and so do I. Not everyone will react the same way you did, but still. I don't think they will understand. My father will be angry, and my mother will be disappointed."

She sighed, heavily at his words. "Do you regret telling me?"

"No," he told her without hesitation before continuing, "I don't regret telling you, but they won't understand my reasons for telling you."

"I'm sorry for putting you in this position. Maybe you should have just left me at the Museum."

A frown etched onto his features from the way she was speaking, and he didn't like it at all before he moved closer to her. "It's not like it would have changed anything. I probably still would have told you the truth. I mean it when I tell you that I don't regret telling you the truth, and I definitely don't regret spending the entire night with you."

She smiled, but it quickly fell at the mere thought of the lecture they were seconds away from experiencing.

He noticed that she was still feeling upset, and engulfed his hands around her smaller ones. "It's okay, Lois. We'll get through this."

"Are you sure we're going to make it out alive?"

"I guess we'll find out." He held out his hand, which she quickly took, and they walked hand in hand towards the house, both of them mentally preparing themselves to face the consequences of their actions—actions that neither of them regretted.

* * *

It was completely and utterly silent inside the yellow farmhouse, as Clark and Lois sat on the couch in the living room directly across from Martha and Jonathan, who had absolutely no idea how to start a conversation they never thought they would have.

Ever since their son had found out that he wasn't from Earth, he had been even more careful when it came to using his abilities, and he had definitely made it clear that he didn't want anyone knowing his secret, but for some reason he had told a woman he didn't even know.

Why? Why would he do that?

Lois fidgeted uncomfortably, as his parents stared at them, and she was really starting to become nervous from he way they were looking at her.

Why wasn't anyone saying anything?

It was really starting to grate on her.

After several more minutes of uncomfortable silence, she finally grew annoyed with this situation, and muttered the first thing that came to mind, "Is someone going to say something? Or are we just going to sit here staring at each other all day?"

Clark sighed, softly at her impatience. "Lois…"

"What? I hate uncomfortable silences."

Martha smiled, softly at their interaction with each other. It was like her son was freer around her. It was like he was more in touch with his feelings when they were together. She had noticed it inside the barn, and she was noticing it now.

What was it about this woman that made her son seem more like himself?

"How about we start with a name. Who are you?"

"I'm Lois Lane."

The smile never left her face. "I know our first meeting didn't go very well, but I'm Martha and this is Jonathan."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet both of you, but I wish it was under better circumstances."

"So do I," Jonathan spoke for the first time, and stared at her for the longest time before continuing, "How about you explain how you ended up on my farm and how my son ended up telling you something that he's never told anyone?"

Lois and Clark glanced at each other with soft smiles lingering on their faces, hoping that would give them the strength they needed to get through this, and took deep, deep breaths before Lois began their long story. "It's a complicated story, so I guess I'll just start from the beginning. My father and I arrived at the base in Metropolis early yesterday morning—"

"What do you mean you arrived at the base?" Jonathan interrupted her.

"My father is a General for the United States Army."

His eyes widened, slightly from her words, and he could feel pure fear consume every fiber within his being from the mere thought of her telling her father. "Your father is military?"

She nodded.

Jonathan locked his terrified eyes onto his son. "You told her even knowing that?"

Clark glared at him, not liking the way he was speaking, especially since she was sitting right next to him. "Her father has nothing to do with this. She isn't going to tell anyone, especially not him."

"How can you be so sure?" He glanced over at her with an inquisitive gaze. "I don't want you take this the wrong way Lois, but how can I be sure that you wont tell him? How can I be sure that my son won't end up becoming an experimental lab rat?"

"She would never do that," Clark told him, not giving her a chance to respond before he looked over at her for permission to explain why she would never tell her father, and when she nodded, he looked back at his father with a determined gaze lingering in his eyes. "I know you both have had fears of something like that happening ever since I was a child, but I can promise you that Lois isn't going to say anything, especially not to her father. I had a difficult childhood. Trying to keep this secret to myself was a burden and in many ways, it still is, but Lois hasn't had it all that easy either."

Martha frowned at him. "What do you mean it hasn't been easy?"

"First of all, Jonathan I want you to know that I don't blame your for second guessing my intentions. We don't know each other, but I want you to know that you can trust me with this." When he nodded, a sign for her to continue, she sighed, heavily, and pressed further, "I guess you could say that I've had a pretty complicated life. My childhood was just like any other one. I had a mom, a dad and an annoying little sister. Life was great, but the day my mother was diagnosed with cancer everything changed. We didn't have family gatherings anymore. We didn't sit around the table and tell each other about our days anymore. We barely even talked to each other. My father was always with my mother, and I was always with my sister, who didn't really understand why things had changed. Our once happy life turned into one of complete sadness."

Martha felt her heart break inside of her chest from her story, and honestly, she couldn't imagine what it was like to lose a parent like that. It was one thing to lose them from old age, but it was another thing entirely to lose them so suddenly.

It was a pain she would never wish on her worst enemy.

"I'm so sorry, Lois. How old were you when she died?"

"I was only six years old."

"I'm sorry, honey."

"It's okay. I've had years to get used to it."

"That doesn't mean the pain isn't still there."

She smiled, softly at her, and quickly moved on with her story, not wanting to dwell on the past, especially since she still grieved for her mother like it happened yesterday. "Anyways, my father kind of lost his touch on how to be a good father after he lost her, which is completely understandable, but in a lot of ways my sister and I should have been his main priority. We weren't. He threw himself into work instead of being there for us. He treated us like burdens, and I was responsible for taking care of her even though I wasn't old enough to take care of myself. In a way I became her mother. It was wrong. As we grew older, it caused more than a few problems between the two of us. Lucy resented me and I resented my father, but we knew things we're never going to change. We knew that that would be our lives for the foreseeable future."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "Things did change eventually. My father decided to send my sister to boarding school in a completely different country. He told me that it was because he wanted a better life for her, but I know that it was because he couldn't afford to watch over both of us. My life kind of went downhill from there. He started throwing more and more responsibilities on my shoulders, and it became crystal clear that I was only a soldier to him. Not his daughter, so I started rebelling against him by doing things that he didn't want me to do."

She glanced between the two of them. "I know you both probably frown upon disobeying an elders orders, but if you knew him you would understand the reasons, I've chosen to disobey him instead of listen to him."

Martha shook her head from side to side. "No, Lois. I completely understand your reasons for going against his strict orders. He seems to be a selfish man. As much as I dislike a child doing the opposite of what a parent wants, in your case I can understand why you would choose to do so. I happened to be quite the rebel myself when I was younger."

That was intriguing. "You were?"

She nodded. "But that's a story for another time."

Lois smiled at her before she sighed, softly. "I want you to know that even though my life was hard growing up it's not the only reason I'll never tell him about Clark. My father would see him as an object, but I see him as a person."

Clark grabbed her hand, making her look at him, and smiled, widely at her. "Thank you, Lois."

"Your welcome."

Martha grinned at them. It was quite obvious that they already had an unbreakable bond, and she couldn't wait to find out where this new friendship took them.

Jonathan, who had been eerily silent during this entire conversation, mulled over everything she had shared with them, and honestly, he couldn't believe that one person had went through so much pain in such a short amount of time.

She lost her mother.

Her father had practically turned his back on her.

She was in charge of taking care of her little sister.

Her father had created an unfixable animosity between sisters.

She felt like he didn't care about her.

And now she was rebelling against him.

Even though he didn't particularly like the idea that his son had told someone with close ties to the military, he knew that she wouldn't tell her father. She wouldn't tell anyone. Not only because of the heartbreaking story she had revealed, but also because she seemed like an honorable person, and if his son could trust her then so could he.

"I want to apologize to you, Lois."

Lois frowned at him. "For what?"

"For jumping to conclusions. For thinking that you would tell your father. For thinking that you would tell anyone. It's quite obvious that you've had a difficult life. Almost as difficult as my son's, but I want you to know that if he can trust you with this then so can I."

Clark grinned from ear to ear at his father. "You really mean that?"

He nodded. "But that doesn't mean I still don't want answers to the reason you ended up here and the reason we found you both passed out on each other in the loft."

"That's another complicated story, but one I would never regret." She smiled at Clark, who smiled right back at her before she returned her attention towards them. "As you already know, I purposefully do things that my father doesn't want me to do. Well, he was invited to the Museum several months ago, and of course, he wouldn't let me go, but being the troublemaker that I am I went anyways. That's where I met Clark."

"More like eavesdropped on my conversation with Lana and Lex."

She glared at him, playfully. "Really? This isn't the time for technicalities, Clark."

He grinned, lopsided at her. "Sorry?"

Martha smiled at them, once again feeling completely surprised by the way her son behaved around this woman. "So, you only wanted to go to the Museum and then go back to base until you left town?"

She shook her head from side to side. "Not exactly. You see, my cousin lives here in Smallville. My plan was to go to the Museum and then visit her, but things didn't exactly go according to plan."

"So, you're really here to visit your cousin?"

"You know her, actually. My cousin is Chloe."

Her eyes widened, slightly from that. "You mean, Chloe Sullivan?"

She nodded. "It's been years since I've seen her, so when I found out that I was going to be in Metropolis for a few days I knew that I wanted to visit her."

"She'll be happy to see you."

"I hope so."

Jonathan smiled, softly at the woman sitting in front of him.

Even though he was still curious by the things that he had learned this morning, and still didn't have the answers he wanted, he could tell that she had a good heart. She just wanted to spend time with her cousin, and that would still happen, but first, he needed to understand how meeting his son turned into him telling her everything and them falling asleep together.

"She will be, but none of this explains how you ended up here."

Clark sighed, heavily at his father, knowing that he wasn't going to like this at all, but he had already accepted the fact that she wasn't going to tell anyone, so this shouldn't be too bad. At least he hoped it wouldn't be. "Something happened after I left her inside the building. There was this Metro bus that was hurdling towards a homeless man sleeping on a bench, and I stopped it from hitting him."

"What if someone was out there? What if someone watched you do that?"

"No one else was out there." He glanced over towards Lois with a soft smile gracing his lips. "Well, no one except Lois."

Martha nodded, knowingly. "You watched him stop the bus?"

She nodded. "To say I was shocked is an understatement, but I was even more shocked when he just picked me up and sped us here. At first, I was furious with him, but as soon as I realized that he only did it because he wanted to make sure I didn't say anything I understood why he did it. He wanted to protect himself, and I respected that. I still do."

Jonathan had already figured out that she found out he had abilities by watching him stop the bus, but their story really didn't explain how he ended up telling her everything. "So, is that when you decided to tell her everything?"

Clark shook his head from side to side. "We talked for quite some time before that came up. I can't really explain what made me want to tell her the truth, but I guess I just instinctively knew that I could trust her."

Martha smiled at her son before glancing over at Lois, who was grinning at him. "And you just believed him?"

"No. I thought he was lying to me, but then he took me to the storm cellar."

Jonathan' eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open from that little revelation. "You showed her the spaceship?"

He nodded. "It was the only way she would believe me. After that we kind of just stayed up talking until she fell asleep on me."

"And this one was supposed to stay awake, so we wouldn't have to have this conversation, but now that I've met both of you and we've been completely honest with each other I'm kind of glad that this happened."

Martha smiled, softly at her. "We're glad too. I have a feeling that your going to bring some much-needed liveliness into this household."

Lois smiled from her words, but it quickly faded, as thoughts of her inevitable fate of having to return to her father came to the forefront of her mind. "As much as I'd enjoy sticking around not only for my cousin, but for the three of you I wont be able to. I'm only here for a few days. Maybe longer. I guess it depends on when my father finds out that I'm gone."

Jonathan frowned at her. "He doesn't know you're here, does he?"

She shook her head from side to side. "He found me at the Museum, and we had this huge fight. I was planning on coming here instead of going back to the base like he wanted, but Clark beat me to the punch on that one by bringing me here last night."

Martha sighed, softly. "You really should tell him where you are. He could be worried sick."

"Yeah right," she scoffed. "He has business meetings that he's attending to. He won't even notice I'm gone until he goes back to base. It won't take him long to find me. He knows that Chloe lives here."

As much as Jonathan liked this woman, he didn't think it was a good idea for her to do this, especially since he was still her father even if he wasn't that good of one. "Do you think that's wise, Lois? What's going to happen to you when he finds out?"

"I'll probably be grounded, but it's nothing that hasn't happened in the past." She glanced between the two of them with pleading lingering in her hazel eyes. "Please don't make me go back. I just want to spend what little time I have here with my cousin. It's been years since I've seen her."

Jonathan placed his hand on top of hers, and smiled, reassuringly. "We're not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. If you want to stay in Smallville then you can stay. I just want to make you understand the consequences of your actions."

"I do." She glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall, realizing that they have been talking for a good two hours. "I should probably get going. I want to surprise Chloe before she heads to school."

Clark frowned at her. "How do you expect to do that? You don't have a car."

She smiled, sweetly up at him. "Maybe you could just do your superspeed thing again?"

Jonathan shook his head from side to side, not liking that idea at all. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because the more I use my abilities the better chance there is that someone finds out, so I only use them when I have to."

"Like last night?"

He nodded.

A smirk slowly spread out across her face. "You know, we could just get you a disguise. No one would know it was you. We could put you in an expensive suit, slick back that messy hair of yours, and have you wear thick, black-rimmed glasses. You'd be practically invisible."

He glared at her, playfully. "Are you trying to turn me into a nerd?"

"Clark, your already a nerd." She reached over and ruffled his hair, which made him give her an unpleasant look before pulling away from her. "Aw! Come on. You know that you like my idea."

"It's never going to happen, Lane."

She pouted. "Your no fun, Kent."

Martha and Jonathan glanced at each other with knowing smiles slowly spreading out across their faces, both of them knowing what was happening between them, but of course, the two teenagers were completely and utterly clueless.

Maybe they would figure it out or maybe they would just stay friends. Either way, that meant having Lois in their lives, and they had a feeling that she would be sticking around for quite a long time. Maybe even forever.

"How about you stay for breakfast and then I'll drive you to Chloe?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Good." Martha quickly stood up from the couch. "Now get your butt in that kitchen and help me with breakfast, while the men do the chores."

Lois stared at her with a surprised expression. "Wait a minute. You want me to help you?"

She nodded.

"Um, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm a horrible cook."

"Well, then you can learn, besides I want to get to know you better, especially if your going to be a part of Chloe and Clark' life."

She smiled at her. "I'd like that."

Jonathan grinned, widely at the two women before clamping his hand down on his son's shoulder. "Come on, Clark. Let's leave the women to their devices."

Clark nodded, and slowly stood up, but before he turned away from them, he smirked at Lois with a teasing glint lingering in his eyes. "Don't burn my house down to the ground please."

Lois glared at him, playfully. "If you're not careful I'll make sure your food is completely inedible."

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me."

Jonathan rolled his eyes at them before grabbing his arm, and began pulling him towards the door. "Okay. That's enough you two. The chores aren't going to finish themselves."

Clark nodded at his father before grinning, widely at her. "This isn't over."

Lois chuckled, loudly, as he walked out of the house with his father. In that moment, she knew that she was going to enjoy spending more and more time here, and building her friendship with him, especially since he seemed to enjoy teasing her just as much as she enjoyed teasing him.

Things were definitely going to change in her life.

Not only did she make a new friend, but she met two amazing people. They were sweet, and maybe even a little over protective, but she could picture herself spending a lot of time here.

No matter what, she would find a way to come back to this small-town to visit her cousin, who she hasn't even seen yet, but also to spend time with the family she already enjoyed being around.

"Are you coming Lois?" Martha yelled from the kitchen.

"Coming." As she made her way towards the kitchen, she just knew that she was going to enjoy every second she spent with this family.

It was inevitable.

_**This chapter was a little difficult to write, but I managed to find the right ambience for this particular scene, and I hope my interpretation of Martha and Jonathan wasn't too far off the mark. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter three **_


	5. Chapter Four

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Four: **_

After breakfast, Clark, Lois, Martha and Jonathan were sitting down at the dining room table, enjoying spending some quality time together—enjoying spending this time with the woman, who had already crawled into their hearts, especially since they didn't know how long she was going to be here or when they would be seeing her again.

Hopefully, it would be soon.

Martha and Jonathan had already noticed the effect this woman had on their son, and they wanted her to visit more often just so their son could be as happy as he was right at this moment in time.

It was something they've never seen.

Not when he was with his friends.

Not even when he was with Lana.

It was a surprising new change, and they didn't want it to disappear when she inevitably left town.

"So, Lois, how long do you think you'll be here?"

Lois sighed, heavily at the woman she had spent the better half of an hour cooking in the kitchen with, not wanting to think about her father finding her, but supposed that it would happen sooner rather than later. "I don't know. Probably only a few days, but I intend on enjoying these few days. Not only with my cousin, but with the three of you as well."

Jonathan cocked a brow at her. "So, you intend on coming back to the farm?"

"It's a possibility." She grinned, widely at the man sitting across from her. "Don't worry, I won't be falling asleep in the barn again, and I can promise that you won't find your son and I in a situation like that again."

"I'd hope not."

Clark crossed his arms over his chest, as a teasing smirk spread out across his face. "Yeah. That definitely won't be happening again. I'd rather sleep with the cows than have to listen to you snoring all night long."

Lois narrowed her eyes at him, dangerously. "I do not snore."

"How would you know?"

"I just do."

"Keep telling yourself that, Lane."

Her hazel eyes never left his aquamarine ones. "I'd watch it if I were you, farm boy."

Martha shook her head from side to side, as a small smile graced her lips from their teasing and flirtatious interaction with each other. "Next time, your more than welcome to stay inside the house."

She smiled, softly at her. "As sweet of a notion that is, I probably won't be staying here overnight again. It was a one time thing. I'm planning on staying with my cousin. I just needed a place to stay last night, and Clark was noble enough to offer."

Clark grinned, proudly. "Your welcome."

"You didn't let me finish." She glanced between Martha and Jonathan, who were staring at her with smiles lingering in their eyes, like they knew exactly what she was going to say. "You might have been the one that offered, Clark, but your parents are the ones that raised you that way, so technically, I'm thanking them. Not you."

"You just had to ruin it, didn't you?" Clark questioned, as he slouched in his chair, feigning disappointment.

"If you think my teasing is bad just wait until you have both Chloe and I tormenting you."

"Oh great," he muttered, miserably, as he dropped his head into the palm of his hands. "Not only do I have to deal with her teasing nature, but now I have to deal with you too?"

A wide grin spread out across her face from his obvious misery. "Things are about the change for you in many ways."

"Yeah. It'll change for the worse. Not the better," he muttered, as he lifted his head, and locked his eyes onto hers.

"Admit it, you like it when I tease you."

"Maybe."

They smiled at each other from across the table, both of them enjoying their bantering a little more than they probably should, while Martha and Jonathan shared knowing glances with each other, both of them knowing that something deeper was brewing between the two of them.

They didn't know it, but it would only be a matter of time before they figured it out.

An hour later, Lois was standing near the front door with Jonathan and Clark, while Martha waited for her outside, and as she glanced between the two men standing directly in front of her, she noticed the two completely different expressions that were plastered across their faces.

Apprehension and disenchantment.

Jonathan was looking at her with the most worried expression she had ever seen.

It was like he was terrified that she was going to slip up and say something she shouldn't, which was completely ridiculous, but she understood his fears in more ways than one. He was still a little weary about this entire situation, and even though she wanted to prove to him that he could trust her completely, she knew that it was going to take a little more time.

Hopefully, she could accomplish that before her father found her.

"It was lovely meeting you, Mr. Kent. I just wished it was under better circumstances."

Jonathan smiled, softly at her. "You can call me Jonathan, Lois. You practically know everything about our family. There is no need for uncomfortable pleasantries. We all know how much you hate things like that."

"It's only been a few hours, and you already know me so well."

The smile never left his face. "I'm hoping to get the chance to know you a little better before you leave town."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to say goodbye, but I'm sure you'll see me a few more times before that happens." Without hesitation, she stepped closer to him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, surprising him, slightly, and hugged him, softly before whispering in his ear, "I promise I won't say anything to anyone. Your son's secret is safe with me."

After giving her a soft squeeze, he pulled away from her, and smiled, softly. "I trust you, Lois."

Lois grinned, widely at those words before she glanced over towards Clark, who had this look of pure disenchantment plastered his face, like he was expecting to never see her again, even though they would be in the same town for the next few days.

It was kind of bittersweet.

"Don't look so glum, Smallville. I know for a fact that we'll be seeing each other again real soon."

Clark frowned at the nickname, completely forgetting how he was feeling. "Smallville? You really enjoy calling me names, don't you?"

"What can I say? You're an easy person to tease, so you better get used to it."

A smirk spread out across his face, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Does that mean you plan on sticking around?"

"This might be a temporary stay, but don't worry, I'll visit." She grinned, widely at him before punching his arm, softly. "See you around, Smallville."

Clark watched her walk out the front door with a wide smile gracing his lips, as an unfamiliar feeling consumed his insides, causing his stomach to swirl and twirl into thousands of knots just from the idea of her coming back to visit not only her cousin, but him.

The mere thought of that excited him, confused him and intrigued him.

Of course, he still had a few days to talk to her—to get to know her—to spend time with her, but he couldn't stop himself from looking forward to their future experiences, especially if that meant feeling the same exact way he was feeling right at this moment.

It was something he has never felt with anyone in his entire life, and even though he was confused by the things he was feeling for a woman he just me he couldn't help stop the feeling of excitement radiating throughout every fiber in his being from the mere thought of spending time with her.

She was one of a kind.

She was feisty.

She was the complete opposite of him.

She brought out a completely different side of him.

There was a part of himself that wanted her to stay just so he could continue to delve into these feelings—into these emotions, but the other part of himself knew that that was impossible. She would be leaving, but instead of worrying about something he couldn't control he was going to focus on something he could control…their growing friendship.

Jonathan shook his head from side to side, and smiled, softly, as he watched the fiery woman leave with his wife before he turned his attention towards his son, immediately noticing the several different emotions crossing over his features.

Happiness.

Confusion.

Intrigue.

But, the most prominent one was hope.

His son was hoping that she would come back after she left.

It was an emotion he had never witnessed coming from his son, of course he had been hopeful for many things in his life, but never for one person, and in that moment, he knew things were bound to change in several different ways.

They might just be friends right now, but with the way she teased him and the way his entire attitude changed when she was around, it would only be a matter of time before things changed between them. It was completely different from the way he behaved around Lana, and even though he was still feeling a little uneasy when it came to the things that had happened last night, he couldn't help but feel happy for his son.

This Lois Lane was definitely going to bring some much-needed liveliness into their lives.

"That girl is one hell of a firecracker."

"Yeah. She is."

Jonathan rolled his eyes at the way the smile on his face never shifted. "So, do you like her?"

Those words immediately caused the smile to fall from his face before he turned around towards his father with a confused expression slowly spreading out across his face. "What? Like her? How could I possibly like her? We only just met last night."

"I liked your mother the second I laid my eyes on her."

"That's different."

"Keep telling yourself that, son."

"So, um, I'm curious. What did she whisper to you?" Clark questioned him, effectively changing the subject, not wanting to discuss the confusing feelings he was feeling for her, especially since he had just met her.

Jonathan grinned, widely at his son not only from the way he managed to change the subject, but also from the way he still ended up wanting to discuss her. "She wanted to make sure that I understood she wasn't going to tell anyone your secret."

"And do you believe her?"

"I trust her, Clark. Just like I trust you." A soft escaped past his lips, as he turned his entire body towards him. "With that being said, I'm still not thrilled by the idea of you telling a stranger your secret, but if you could have told anyone I'm glad that it was her."

A wide grin graced his lips. "You really mean that?"

He nodded. "But next time, talk to both of us before you do something like that."

"I promise."

Jonathan stared at his son for the longest time, as his mind was consumed with thoughts of everything, they had revealed to him this morning from him stopping the bus to him telling her his secret, and instantly realized that there was one important thing he forgot to tell him. "Clark, I might not be thrilled by the idea of you using your abilities in such a public area, but I'm proud of you. You saved those people, and even thought someone did witness you doing it I'm still proud of you."

Clark grinned from ear to ear at his father. "Thanks, dad."

"Your welcome." He clamped his hand down on his shoulder, and squeezed, softly. "Now, we better get started on those chores. You wouldn't want to be late for school."

"We definitely wouldn't want that," he replied, sarcastically.

Jonathan watched his son walk outside, wondering where this sarcastic side of him was coming from since it wasn't something he did very often, but figured that it had a lot to do with the feisty woman, who made him behave more like himself, and quickly followed him out to the barn, as thoughts of their budding relationship consumed his mind.

Things were definitely going to change around here, and he couldn't wait to find out how that affected not only his son, but the woman, who had already captured his heart.

Thirty minutes later, Martha pulled up to the familiar small suburban house, and came to a complete stop before glancing over at the woman, who had been eerily silent the entire drive over here. It was like her entire attitude had changed as soon as they had left the farm.

What was going on with her? What happened to the feisty demeanor she had not even one hour ago? What was she thinking?

"Lois? Honey? Are you okay?"

Lois glanced over at her with a soft smile gracing her lips. "I'm fine."

Martha gave her a look that clearly said, 'I wasn't born yesterday', which caused her to sigh, heavily before she quickly succumbed to her silent demands. "Okay. I'm not fine. Last night and this morning I was really excited to surprise my cousin, but on the ride over here I realized that my uncle could tell my father that I'm here. If he does that, I won't be able to spend any time with her."

"Gabe wouldn't do that."

"You don't understand. My uncle has always been terrified of my father, even when my mother was still alive. That fear just might make him tell my father where I am." A heavy sigh escaped past her lips, as she glanced over towards the house. "I'm starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not."

Martha quickly grabbed her hand, making her look at her, and smiled, softly, hoping that would ease the nervousness she was feeling right now. "I don't think he is going to do that. He knows what your father is like, right?"

She nodded. "Which is one of the many reasons he is terrified of him."

"But he also knows how close you and Chloe are, so it's safe to say that he could just be happy to see you."

"I guess your right."

"If you want, I could walk inside with you, and talk to him, you know, make him understand that you want to stay."

Lois smiled, widely at her, loving how this woman, who she had just met, would be willing to do something like that for her, and even though it was a nice sentiment it wasn't her job to make it possible for her to stay here for the time being. "Thanks for the offer, Martha, but I think I can handle this on my own. If this doesn't work out, I'm sure you and Jonathan wouldn't mind hiding me out on the farm."

Martha chuckled, loudly at that. "Your welcome anytime, Lois. I'm sure Clark would enjoy that."

A wide grin spread out across her face, as thoughts of the farm boy consumed her mind. "Not as much as I would."

Martha was half-tempted to question this young woman on her feelings for her son, but from what she had learned in the few hours she has spent with her she knew that that wouldn't solve anything, actually, she would probably deny it.

Just like her son would deny it.

She would just have to wait to find out what was going on between them.

Was it friendship or something more?

"Well, you better get going. I'd love to sit here and chat with you all day, but I'm sure your excited to spend time with cousin."

"I am." She glanced back over towards the house, and sighed, softly before returning her gaze to hers. "Thank you for breakfast, and for being so understanding about everything that happened last night."

"Your welcome, Lois. I know it was a little odd for all of us, but I'm glad we met."

"So, am I."

"As for Jonathan, he will come around. It just might take a little more time."

A wide grin appeared on her face from those words. "I think he already has."

She grinned right back at her. "I think so too."

After saying goodbye to Martha, she got out of the truck, watching her disappear down the street before she made her way over to the front door, and took a deep breath before knocking on the wooden door.

There was a part of herself that wished her cousin would open the door, but the other part of herself just knew that it was going to be her uncle Gabe, and she prayed that he allowed her to stay here until her father found her instead of forcing her to go back to Metropolis.

She wanted to be here.

She wanted to spend time with her cousin.

Hopefully, her uncle would understand her reasons for practically running away from him, and would allow her to stay here for the time being.

One could only hope, she thought to herself.

Gabe Sullivan, who was running a little behind schedule this morning, rushed over to the front door, wondering who could possibly be at his house this early in the morning, and swung the door open, his eyes widening, slightly at the woman standing there, as his mouth opened and closed several times. "Lois? Lois Lane? Is that really you?"

Lois smiled, sheepishly. "Hi, uncle Gabe."

Gabe stared at her for the longest time like he couldn't actually believe who he was seeing with his own eyes right now before he quickly shook away his shock from the mere sight of his niece, who he hasn't seen in several years. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in town for a few days, and I wanted to surprise both you and Chloe."

That caused him to smile, softly, but it instantly fell when he glanced behind her, realizing that her father wasn't with her. "Where's Sam?"

She gulped, silently, as she looked down to the ground, her heart beginning to hammer inside her chest like a jackhammer from the reaction that was bound to come from him at her next words. "Um, he's not here…"

He narrowed his eyes at her, slightly. "He doesn't know you're here, does he?"

"No. I was kind of hoping that I could stay here."

"Lois, I don't know—"

"Please, uncle Gabe," she interrupted him. "I just want to spend some time with Chloe. I know I should have discussed it with him, but you know better than anyone that he wouldn't let me come even if I begged him. Please. Can I stay?"

Gabe softened, slightly at her pleading, and even though he was a little terrified of that man the well being of his niece was more important to him than anything else. She has endured so much in her life from losing her mother to being dragged around the world with her father, and he would be damned if he allowed that man to stop him from allowing his daughter and niece to reconnect after it being so many years.

"I'll only allow this if you manage to wake up that headstrong daughter of mine."

Lois grinned from ear to ear before jumping into his arms, giving him the tightest hug she could manage, and surprising him, slightly from her sudden movements. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Gabe hugged her back just as tightly, as he chuckled from the pure excitement that was radiating off of her in waves, and pulled her inside the house before closing the door behind him. "You're welcome, but I really do need you to wake up that cousin of yours."

She slowly stepped away from him. "Doesn't she have school? Why is she still sleeping?"

"Cause she stays up all hours of the night either spending time with her friends or working on her articles for the school newspaper. Normally, I would wake her up, but I'm already running late."

"Don't worry, uncle Gabe. I'll make sure she wakes up. She'll be quite shocked, but that's what I was hoping for."

He smiled, softly at her before roaming his eyes over her figure, and shook his head from side to side at how much she has changed since the last time he had seen her. "You've changed so much, Lois."

"And you haven't changed at all. Your still the hard working man I've always known."

"Well, someone has to pay the bills around here. Speaking of, I should probably get going."

Lois quickly leaned forward, and kissed his cheek, softly. "Have a good day at work."

He grinned at her before turning around towards the front door, intending on leaving, but stopped in his tracks, and turned back around towards her. "I'm really glad to see you, Lo."

"Me too." She watched him walk out the front door before she made her way upstairs, where she found her cousin sleeping, and couldn't stop herself from softly chuckling at the way she was sprawled out across the bed.

Her cousin was definitely a beg hog.

After relishing in her amusement for a few seconds, she slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, and softly shook her shoulder, feeling the excitement brimming deep in the pit of her stomach from the mere thought of spending the next few days with her cousin.

It was going to be one hell of an adventure.

"Chloe. It's time to wake up."

Chloe groaned, softly at the sound of someone attempting to wake her up, and buried herself further into the blankets before mumbling, "Five more minutes, dad."

They were a lot alike, she thought to herself, as she recalled the way she uttered that same exact thing when Clark attempted waking her up this morning, but quickly pushed that thought aside, and focused on the words her cousin had sleepily muttered.

"You know, I take offense to that. I'm certainly not your father, and last time I checked I wasn't a man."

Chloe frowned at the familiar voice, and slowly blinked her eyes open to see her cousin staring down at her before closing her eyes once again. "Sorry, Lois."

Lois muffled her laughter, as she watched her cousin close her eyes again even after muttering her name, and waited, patiently for the fiery reaction that was bound to come when her sleepy mind registered what she had uttered and who she had seen.

Not even two seconds later, Chloe snapped her eyes open, as her mind fully understood what she had muttered—who she had seen, and sure enough, her cousin, the one she hasn't seen in years, was sitting on her bed, attempting to wake her up.

What the hell?

"LOIS!" She yelled out before practically tackling her to the ground in complete and utter excitement.

Lois chuckled, loudly, as she hugged her cousin just like they used to when they were younger. "Woah! Chloe, don't get so excited or you'll knock us both off this small bed."

Chloe ignored her words, as she pulled away from her, and stared into the hazel eyes of the one person she has missed with all of her heart. "Your really here?"

"I'm really here."

She grinned from ear to ear before lunging back into her arms. "I've missed you so much, Lo!"

She hugged her back, just as tightly. "I missed you too, Chlo."

After several minutes, Chloe released her hold on her with a frown etched upon her features. "Wait a minute. What are you doing here? How are you here? When did you get here? How long are you staying? Is uncle Sam with you? What about Lucy? Wh—"

"One question at a time, Chloe," she interrupted her before taking a deep break, and continuing, "I guess we should start at the beginning. My father had some important meetings he had to attend to, and I took it upon myself to find a way out here to spend some quality time with you. It's only for a few days, but I couldn't stay in Metropolis when I knew that you were only a few hours away."

Chloe grinned, widely at her, but it fell, as soon as the implication behind her unspoken words came rushing to the forefront of her mind. "Uncle Sam doesn't know you're here, does he?"

"Nope. I managed to convince your father to let me stay here for the time being."

"You've already seen my father?" At her nod, she pressed further, "How long have you been in town?"

"We arrived in Metropolis yesterday morning."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at her, dangerously before slapping her arm. "And your just now showing your face?"

Lois rubbed her arm, even though it didn't actually hurt. "Don't get mad at me. It's not like I could just catch the next bus to Smallville as soon as we arrived here. My father practically prohibited me from going anywhere the entire time we're here."

"You obviously had a plan."

She nodded. "I've known about this for months."

"And why didn't you tell me?"

Lois stared at her like it was the most obvious thing in the entire world. "Because I wanted to surprise you."

Chloe smiled, widely at her, loving the fact that she had made it all the way out here just so they could spend time together, and even though it was only for a few days she couldn't wait to reconnect with the person she was closest to. "Well, you definitely surprised me, but how did you manage to get here without your father finding out?"

"It's simple really. You see, he has all these business meetings in Metropolis, and I knew he wouldn't be back for a few days, so I figured I'd find a way out here to see you."

Chloe shook her head from side to side with a soft smile gracing her lips. "You know, he is going to kill you when he finds out."

"I know, but it'll be worth it."

"As excited as I am to see, it still doesn't explain how you managed to get out here with a car."

A knowing grin spread out across her face, as excitement consumed every fiber within her being from the mere thought of telling her something she wouldn't believe. "That's a bit of a longer story, and it happens to involve a certain mild-mannered farm boy. You might know him, actually. He's tall, has dark hair, and has the deepest blue eyes I've ever seen."

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers from those words. "Clark? Clark Kent? Are you telling me that you met my best friend?"

She nodded. "And what a first meeting that was."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that friend of yours definitely knows how to leave an impression on a girl."

"How the hell did you meet him? He was in Metropolis last night at some function…" she trailed off, as the dots connected in her head from her own words. "You met him there, didn't you?"

She nodded. "It was quite an interesting first meeting. I can see why your such good friends with him. He has a good sense of humor, and he can definitely give back just as much sarcasm as I give him. He might be a little mysterious, but it's in an intriguing type of way. I can see us becoming great friends."

Chloe attempted ignoring the feeling that arose inside of her from the admiration laced behind her words, and wondered if there was more to the story than that, especially since her entire composure had changed completely when she mentioned him.

Did she like him?

No, she told herself, that wasn't possible.

There was no way her cousin could like her best friend.

They were complete opposites. She had nothing to worry about. It was hard enough trying to ignore the way he behaved around Lana, but if her cousin liked him too then that would make things so, so much more complicated.

"So, I'm guessing that Clark offered to bring you to Smallville?"

"Something like that. When he found out that we were related he was shocked to say the least, and I was shocked to find out that he was the man you've told me so much about." A smirk spread out across her face. "I can understand why you have a crush on him."

Chloe ignored that, not wanting to discuss her feelings for him. "So, why didn't you come to the house last night?"

"Because it was so late. I didn't want to wake up either you or uncle Gabe, so we agreed that I'd stay there for the night."

Her eyes widened, slightly at that. "Martha and Jonathan allowed you to stay the night?"

Lois averted her eyes to the ground. "Um, not exactly. Clark was supposed to stay awake all night, but we ended up falling asleep in the loft. That's how his parents found us."

Chloe attempted holding in her laughter from that bit of news, but it was merely impossible. "So, they found you sleeping in the loft? Together?"

She nodded. "It was the most humiliating moment of my life, but honestly, I'm kind of glad it happened. I got to meet the two of them. We even had breakfast together. It was nice. Probably the first time I've experienced a family meal in a very long time."

Chloe nodded, sadly at her cousin, knowing that her life has been extremely hard ever since her mother passed away before she quickly changed the subject, wanting to lighten up this conversation a little. "Well, it seems like you've had quite a night and an even more eventful morning. Are you sure your prepared to spend the entire day with me?"

Lois rolled her eyes at her. "Chloe, nothing is going to stop me from spending time with you. I went through all of that just to get here, but our fun-filled day will have to wait until you get back from school."

Her eyes widened, as she looked over at the clock sitting on the table next to her bed, realizing how late it actually was. "Oh crap! I'm going to be late for school."

"Well, you better get ready then."

"But what about you? I don't want to leave you here all day by yourself."

A wide smile graced her lips, as thoughts of her plan came rushing to the forefront of her mind, and she slowly stood up from the bed. "Don't worry, cuz. I have a plan for that. Not even you going to school is going to stop me from spending time with you."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at her. "What did you do?"

"Nothing yet." She held out her hand, which she quickly took, and pulled her up from the bed. "I'll tell you all about it while your getting ready."

They walked into the bathroom with face-splitting smiles plastered across their faces, both of them feeling more than a little excited to spend not only today, but the next few days together.

It was going to be the best days of their lives.

* * *

Later that morning, Clark and Pete were walking down the familiar hallways of Smallville High School towards the Torch office, intending to pick up the slack that their wayward best friend would inevitably be leaving behind since they both had a feeling that she wouldn't be coming into school today, which was very unusual, but with her cousin in town they highly doubted they would see her.

It was definitely going to be a busy day for them, especially since they barely participated when it came to writing articles, hell, half the time they missed the deadline, but that wouldn't be the case today—today they had to be on top of their game or receive the wrath of one fiery investigative reporter in training.

Pete groaned, miserably, as they made their way past the several crowds of people. "I can't believe Chloe did this to us."

Clark rolled his eyes at his best friend. "It's the least we can do. It's not everyday Chloe gets to spend time with her cousin. We can manage this for one day."

"Says the guy, who only copies the cafeteria menu."

"Shut up!"

Pete glanced over at his friend with a quizzical gaze. "How do you know that she won't be here? I mean, sure, her cousin is in town, but the world could be ending, and she would still find a way to be here."

"I just know. You didn't hear the excitement in her voice when she talked about her, so it's safe to say that Chloe is going to feel the same way."

He narrowed his eyes at him. "How did you two meet again?"

"I've told you this a million times already. We met at the Museum last night."

It wasn't the whole story, but it's not like he could tell him that she spent the night with him. It would only bring up questions he didn't know how to answer, besides he kind of liked sharing something with her and only her.

"Well, this still sucks."

"It's only for one day, Pete."

They quickly rounded the corner, and walked inside the office expecting to find it completely empty, but were surprised to find Chloe and Lois sitting on the couch, chatting away like it was the most natural thing in the world.

To say they were surprised to see them was an understatement.

Clark grinned from ear to ear when he set his eyes on the woman, who had surprised, confused and intrigued him all at the same time, not able to squelch the excitement that consumed him from seeing her here of all places.

Pete, on the other hand, roamed his eyes up and down her slender body, as a wide smile graced his lips, of course he knew that he shouldn't be checking her out since she was his best friends cousin, but he just couldn't help himself.

She was so beautiful.

"Damn Clark. You could have told me that Chloe' cousin was a babe."

Clark quickly nudged his shoulder with his elbow, and glared at the man, as he mentally told him to shut up.

His words caused Chloe and Lois to turn around towards them with two completely different expressions plastered across their faces. One was pure amusement, while the other was utter irritation.

"Pete Joseph Ross!" Chloe quickly stood up, and stormed over to him with an intimidating gaze lingering in her green eyes. "Did you just hit on my cousin?"

Pete took a step back from her. "What were you expecting? Neither you or Clark told me that she would be that beautiful, besides this is kind of your fault."

"My fault? How is this my fault?"

"You weren't supposed to be here. At least that's what Clark kept telling me."

Chloe turned her attention towards her best friend, who instantly took a step back from the dangerous glint lingering in her eyes. "What made you think I wouldn't be here?"

Clark gulped, silently, as he glanced between the three people in front of him before his eyes locked onto the woman sitting on the couch, who was grinning from ear to ear like this was the most interesting thing she has ever seen. "Wanna help me out a little?"

"You know, I would love to help you farm boy, but I kind of like watching you squirm."

"Of course, you do." He turned his attention back towards his best friend. "I just figured that you'd want to spend the whole day with your cousin."

"And let you two ruin my precious paper? I don't think so."

"Okay. Chloe, I think you've made your point." Lois quickly stood up from the couch, and walked over to the dark-skinned man with a soft smile gracing her lips. "You must be Pete Ross, the best friend I've heard so many wonderful things about."

Pete grinned, widely at her. "And you must be the cousin Clark can't stop talking about."

"All good things, I hope." She turned her gaze towards him, and grinned, widely from the mix of emotions that were crossing over his features. "You know, it's funny that I'd run into you here of all places."

"You know I go to school here, so don't pretend like you didn't expect this to happen." He tilted his head to one side, slightly, as his aquamarine eyes locked onto her dazzling hazel ones. "What are you doing here anyways? After all that talk about spending time with Chloe this is the last place, I expected to find you."

"I might want to spend what little time I have here with my cousin, but that doesn't meant uncle Gabe is going to allow her to ditch school for that reason alone, so if that means staying in this office all day then so be it, besides I just couldn't miss the chance to watch you in your true element."

His smile grew even wider, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And what is my true element?"

"Being bossed around by my cousin."

He mock glared. "Like I didn't get enough of that this morning."

A smirk spread out across her face, as she copied his movements, and moved closer to him. "It's like I told you this morning. Your just going to have to get used to it."

Chloe glanced between the two of them with a shocked expression spreading out across her face, and honestly, she couldn't believe what she was witnessing. Her best friend was actually flirting with her cousin, and her cousin was flirting right back. Of course, to anyone else it would just seem like they enjoyed teasing each other, but she could see their feelings for each other lingering in their eyes.

Clark Kent, the man she has had a crush on from the moment she met him liked her cousin. Lois Lane, the woman, who never, ever allowed anyone tear down those walls guarding her heart was letting him inside without any hesitation.

Neither of them seemed to realize what was happening, but with the way they were behaving around each other she had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before it became crystal clear to them.

What the hell was she going to do when that happened?

She didn't know, but she was hoping that she wouldn't have to figure that out. It would be more painful than Clark choosing Lana over her—it would be more painful than anything she has ever felt in her entire life.

Pete, on the other hand, glanced between the two of them with a weird expression slowly taking over his features not only from the obvious bond between the two of them, but also from the information that had been revealed. "Wait a minute. Are you saying that you were at Clark' house this morning? Does that mean you spent the night?"

Clark and Lois nodded, simultaneously.

"How in the hell did you convince your parents to allow that to happen?"

"They didn't find out until this morning," Chloe informed him, as soon as she managed to find her voice.

"Which ensued a lecture neither of us were prepared for," Lois added.

"Come on, Lois. It wasn't that bad." Clark nudged her arm with his shoulder. "My parents already love you."

She grinned, widely at that. "Your parents are pretty great."

"And what about me?"

A smirk spread out across her face. "You're a work in progress."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, thanks."

She patted his arm. "No problem, farm boy."

Pete couldn't stop himself from grinning, widely at the way they behaved around each other. It was like everyone else in the room faded until it was just the two of them.

As much as he was enjoying their interaction with each other, he was also acutely aware of what this was doing to his best friend, who looked more upset than surprised by their obvious connection, but they seemed to be completely oblivious to it, and quickly changed the subject for her sake. "So, um, how did you manage to get on campus? The principal doesn't usually let anyone walk around without good reason."

Chloe felt her jealousy dissipate from the change of subject before a wide smile appeared on her lips from his words, as she recalled the plan her cousin had revealed to her before they left the house. "My dear cousin is one smart cookie. She is always prepared, and she always has a back up plan."

Clark frowned, slightly, as he glanced between the two of them. "What did you do?"

Lois pulled out the visitor pass from her back pocket. "I managed to convince that uptight principal of yours to allow me to stay on campus over the next few days just in the name of scouting a potential school. You know, just in case my father decided to send me here."

Pete' entire face lit up from those words. "Is that a possibility?"

A loud chuckle escaped past her lips from those words. "Not a chance in hell. My father would never send me here; besides I don't do small-towns, but it did get me to stay here for the time being."

Clark shook his head from side to side, as he laughed, softly from her antics. "I can see that your using your father's pull to your advantage."

"You know it, Smallville."

Pete frowned, slightly. "What do you mean using your father's pull? What is he? A political figure?"

"Not even close. He's a Four Star General for the Army. It's the whole reason he's in Metropolis right now, and it's also the reason I'm here."

"Your father is in the military?" At her nod, he continued, "What's it like being an army brat?"

Lois sighed, quite heavily and irritatingly, as thoughts of her father consumed her mind, but she quickly pushed them down, not wanting to think about that man. Not in the slightest. "A nightmare, but I took advantage of the situation by escaping from the city to this small-town to spend some quality time with my cousin."

"Escaping? Does that mean he doesn't know you're here?"

She nodded. "Precisely."

"That isn't going to end well."

"That's an understatement," Chloe added before glancing over at her. "You do realize that when he finds out he is probably going to ground you for the rest of your life."

Lois shrugged her shoulders, like it wasn't that big of a deal. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with in the past."

Pete couldn't stop himself from chuckling at her attitude towards the situation. "Why do I get the feeling that you're a troublemaker?"

"Maybe just a little bit."

Clark gaped at her, mockingly before a teasing smirk spread out across his face. "Just a little bit?"

Lois turned towards him, as her eyes glinted at him, dangerously. "Don't start with me, farm boy, or shall we rehash the trouble you got into this morning."

A defeated expression took over his features from her words. "I'd rather not."

She grinned, victoriously. "That's what I thought."

Every single one of them were completely wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't notice the petite, dark-haired woman walk into the room, her facial expression holding a mix of confusion and surprise, as she listened to the man, she had conflicting feelings towards and the woman she had never met practically flirting with each other.

"Hey guys. What's going on in here?"

_**HAPPY NEW YEAR! **_

_**This chapter was a tad bit longer than my previous one, but I needed to fit so many different aspects into this. From Martha and Jonathan to the beginning of the love-triangle between Clark, Chloe and Lois. Lana will become a part of that, as you probably guessed from the end of this chapter. It won't be too dramatic, but Clark and Lois are endgame **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter four **_


	6. Chapter Five

_**The Beginning Of Our Story **_

_**Chapter Five:**_

Lana Lang was a woman on a mission, as she brushed past the crowds of people in the hallways, effectively making her way towards the Torch office.

Last night, she had been more excited than she should have been to spend the entire evening with Clark, the man who she has lived next door to for years—the man she had befriended—the man she has conflicting feelings for.

Of course, she knew that she shouldn't feel this way, especially since she was dating Whitney, but there was something about the farm boy that excited, confused and thrilled her all at the same time.

But…

He had disappeared. Just like he always does, and even though she knew he probably had a pretty good reason she wanted—needed to know why he left without saying a word to not only her, but to his friend, Lex Luthor.

All the thoughts running rampant in her mind filtered into the background, as she rounded the corner, and stood like a statue in the doorway, her eyes taking in the scene happening directly in front of her.

Clark smiled even wider than he was a few seconds ago, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And what is my true element?"

"Being bossed around by my cousin."

He mock glared. "Like I didn't get enough of that this morning."

A smirk spread out across the woman's face, who looked really, really familiar for some odd reason, as she copied his movements, and moved closer to him. "It's like I told you this morning. You're just going to have to get used to it."

Lana was completely and utterly speechless, as she glanced between her friend and the tall, beautiful woman teasing him, who were standing a little too close to each other. She had absolutely no idea what was happening, but she could admit to herself that she didn't like it.

Not one bit.

It was like this woman, who just happened to be her new friends cousin, brought out a side of him that she had never, ever seen in the short time they have been friends.

He had this smile, a smile she had never seen playing at his lips every single time he looked at her. He teased her, which was quite an odd sight since Clark Kent always seemed so serious, especially around her. He looked extremely happy every single time she teased him. He didn't seem to have that heavy chip on his shoulder when he was focused on her and only her. But, more importantly, he seemed to be completely himself around her.

What the hell was going on? Why didn't he behave that way around her? Who was this woman? Was something happening between the two of them?

Pete couldn't stop himself from chuckling at the beautiful woman standing in front of him. "Why do I get the feeling that you're a troublemaker?"

"Maybe just a little bit."

Clark gaped at her, mockingly before a teasing smirk spread out across his face. "Just a little bit?"

Lois turned her entire body towards him, as her eyes glinted at him, dangerously. "Don't start with me, farm boy, or shall we rehash the trouble you got into this morning?"

A defeated expression took over his features. "I'd rather not."

She grinned, widely. "That's what I thought."

As Lana continued listening to them, she couldn't stop herself from feeling a little jealous at the way they interacted with each other, which was completely ridiculous since she was with Whitney, who she cared about very deeply, but if she was being honest with herself, she was more than just a little attracted to the man standing in front of her.

After gathering her composure, she quickly pushed down those confusing feelings before walking further into the room. "Hey guys. What's going on in here?"

Every single one of them quickly spun around at the sound of her voice, not expecting to see her or anyone for that matter, and as they stared at her they each had a completely different reaction to the dark-haired woman.

Chloe attempted smiling at the woman, who had quickly became her friend, but all that managed to appear was a strained one. It was bad enough that her cousin and best friend were flirting with each other right in front of her, but now that she was here it was only going to make this situation even worse.

Pete couldn't stop himself from grinning at the woman, not because he was excited or even happy to see her, but because he was curious to find out what was going to happen between her, his best friend, and the feisty woman standing next to him.

It was definitely going to be interesting, and he wasn't going to miss a second of this.

Clark smiled, softly at the woman, who has affected him in more ways than one since they became friends, fully expecting to feel that queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach from just the mere sight of her, which happened almost every single time, but surprisingly enough it never came.

When did that change? Why did it change so suddenly? Why wasn't he feeling nervous around her like he usually did? Was it because of the woman, who excited and confused him all at the same time?

His eyes slowly traveled down to her, and took in the beauty that was purely her before he gulped, silently from the mere thought of having even just a hint of feelings for her.

No, he told himself, as he looked away from her.

It just wasn't possible.

Lois, on the other hand, didn't know what she was feeling, as she set eyes on the woman, who had been one of the many reasons she introduced herself to the tall, dark and handsome farm boy standing next to her, but she did know one thing for an absolute fact…she was nervous.

Not because she didn't like meeting new people, but because she was more than a little apprehensive at the thought of what was going to happen now that she was here.

Last night, she had noticed their feelings for each other, and she had also noticed that her new friend was a little confused about those feelings.

Would he stop teasing her now that she was here? Would he focus all of his attention on her? Would this change the dynamics of their friendship?

She didn't know and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

Pete took a few steps closer to her. "Hey, Lana. What are you doing here? I thought you would have stayed home after the thrilling night you had in Metropolis?"

"Well, if Clark can do it then so can I." She glanced over at him, pushing down the feelings that rose inside of her from the mere sight of him. "Speaking of, what happened to you last night?"

"Oh. Um, I'm sorry for leaving without saying anything, but um, I wasn't feeling all that well. I guess I'm not much of a city guy."

Pete stared wide-eyed at his best friend from the way he interacted with the woman he has only dreamt of being with since the first grade. It was like something had completely changed within him. His smile wasn't as wide as it usually was when she was around. He didn't mumble like a complete idiot. And, more importantly, he didn't seem nervous at all.

What the hell was happening?

He didn't know, but he had a feeling that it had everything to do with the beautiful brunette standing right next to him. Firstly, he was acting like a completely different person around her like he was more himself, and now he was behaving differently around Lana.

It didn't really make any sense, but he did know that things were going to change around here, even when Lois inevitably left town, she would still be a big part of his life.

It was obvious that she made quite an impression on him.

Chloe rolled her eyes from his response before smiling a lopsided smile at him. "You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy."

Lois, who had been eerily silent from the moment this woman walked into the room, eyed her up and down like she was scrutinizing her, and couldn't stop herself from feeling that same uneasy feeling she felt last night rise up inside of her.

She was beautiful.

It was no wonder Clark had feelings for her.

As soon as she realized that what she was feeling was indeed jealously, she quickly pushed it down to the deepest part of herself, knowing that she had no right to feel this way, especially since they barely even knew each other.

He liked Lana.

Her cousin liked Clark.

And she would be leaving in a few days.

There was no point in feeling this way.

Without hesitating, she slowly moved closer to the woman she had only gotten a glimpse of last night, and attempted smiling good-heartedly, but it came out strained instead. "Well, since no one is introducing us I'll do it for them. I'm Lois. Lois Lane."

Lana smiled, softly at the woman standing directly in front of her. "I'm Lana Lang."

"I know. I saw you at the Museum last night."

Lana frowned, slightly. "You were there?"

She nodded.

Her eyes widened, slightly, as she recalled an argument between a younger woman and older man she had overheard after managing to pull her aunt away from the jewelry exhibit. "Wait a minute. Were you arguing with your father at some point?"

Lois nodded again. "Not my brightest moment, but that was me."

Principal Kwan walked into the office, interrupting their uncomfortable conversation, as he waved the newest issue of the Torch in his hand. "Is this your idea of a joke? Concerned parents have been calling all morning."

Chloe quickly turned around towards him, feeling grateful for the break of tension that was floating between her cousin and newly discovered friend. "Well, what have you been telling them?"

"What the EPA and other environmental groups released to the public years ago. The meteor rocks are harmless."

Chloe fought the urge to roll her eyes from his words. "People have a right to know about the strange things that happen in this town."

"The Torch is a school paper. It's not your own personal tabloid."

"Are you censoring me?"

"I'm requiring you to do your job, which is to report on relevant school events like sports, dances and clubs. I'm relieving you of your duties. The Torch is suspended until I can appoint a new editor."

Chloe stared dumfounded at the man, as he quickly left the room, unable to believe that that just happened before she croaked out, "What just happened?"

"I think you were just fired," Pete muttered the obvious.

Clark glared at him, slightly before taking a few steps towards her, his heart yearning for his best friend and the situation she was in. "Chloe, I'm sure there is something we can do."

Lois ignored every single one of them, as she felt complete and utter anger fill every fiber within her being from what had just happened. "Oh. I don't think so. He doesn't get to come in here and fire you for writing the truth. I'll convince him to give you your job back, Chlo."

Chloe quickly pulled herself back to reality at those words before grabbing her arm, stopping her from leaving the room. "Don't go, Lois. It's only going to make things worse. The only good thing I have in my life right now is you. If you say something to him, he might prohibit you from coming back to the school. That's the last thing I want."

Lois sighed, heavily, not wanting to listen to her cousin, but deep inside she knew that she was right. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "We'll figure something out."

Lana shook her head from side to side. "I think Lois has a point. He might have the means to stop her from coming back to the school, but he has no grounds to do the same thing to me. Let me talk to Kwan."

Chloe gave her a doubtful look. "Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but what do you think you can do?"

"I don't know, but let me give it a shot."

As soon as she left the room, Clark smiled, softly at his best friend. "Lana will be able to fix this. I promise, Chloe. You'll get your job back."

Lois rolled her eyes at him, not liking the way he jumped to her defense like she walked on water—like she was capable of fixing this situation. "Of course, you would think that."

He frowned, slightly, not liking the tone of voice she was using with him since it was the complete opposite of what he had become accustomed to, actually, he hated it with a fiery passion. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She ignored him, and focused on her cousin, who looked completely heartbroken from everything that had transpired in a matter of minutes. "Come on, Chloe. Let's get out of here."

Chloe cocked a brow at her. "You want me to ditch school?"

Lois rolled her eyes once again. "You can manage to miss a few classes, Chloe. It won't be the end of the world."

After much contemplation, Chloe finally succumbed to her cousin, and they started walking out of the room without saying another word to the men, but before they could get very far, they heard Clark yelling out, "Lois!"

Lois came to a complete stop before turning around towards him, knowing exactly what he wanted to discuss with her from the expression of pure confusion lingering on his face, and it had nothing to do with her cousin. It had everything to do with her and what she had insinuated when he made a promise he couldn't possibly keep.

"I'll meet you outside, Chloe." As soon as she disappeared down the hallway, she took a few steps towards him. "What is it, Clark?"

Clark fidgeted, slightly, as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and stared directly into her eyes, unwaveringly. "It's just, um, I was just wondering if, um, if you were mad at me or something."

Lois sighed, heavily from his words. It wasn't her intention to snap at him the way she did, but with all the confusing feelings she was experiencing, and the fact that he had defended Lana so gallantly it made her say something she didn't really mean. "No, Clark. I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just frustrated."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Clark. I promise I'm not mad at you." She glanced down to the ground before meeting his eyes once again. "I guess I was a little irritated at the fact that you assumed Lana could fix this so easily."

He was taken aback by that for a few seconds, not enjoying the feeling that stirred inside of him from the thought of her thinking something like that before a soft sigh escaped past his lips. "I don't think that, Lois. If anyone is going to fix this for Chloe it'll be you."

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Smallville."

Clark watched her walk away from him with a soft smile gracing his lips, as that feeling squeezing his heart dissipated almost immediately, and he could feel relief course throughout his entire body at the thought of her not being mad at him—of her not thinking something that wasn't true.

That was the last thing he wanted.

His thoughts were interrupted by Pete clamping his hand down onto his shoulder, and squeezing him, softly. "You, my friend, are in big trouble."

Clark frowned over at him. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? You have just created something that you might not be able to escape from."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you have three women, who all have feelings for you. One you've liked most of your life. The other is your best friend. And another, well, she just entered your life. You might not know it, but you just created a war between the three of them, and you, my friend are the prize."

His eyes widened, slightly from the implication behind his words. "Lois doesn't have feelings for me. We barely even know each other."

Pete grinned, widely at him from his response. It had been exactly what he was expecting him to say. "It's funny that she was the first one that popped into your mind. It just proves that you have feelings for her."

"I don't have feelings for Lois," he scoffed, like that was the most unbelievable thing in the entire world.

"Really? Then why did you chase after her?"

"Because I needed to make sure that she wasn't mad at me."

"You do realize why she snapped at you, right?" When he just stared at him with that confused expression, he rolled his eyes, wondering how one person could be so lost when it came to women, especially women he had feelings for. "She snapped at you because she was jealous at the way you praised Lana."

"I didn't praise Lana."

"Yes, you did." He took a step towards him, his eyes practically staring straight through him. "Clark, I'm going to make this really easy for you. The only reason you chased after her was because you needed reassurance from her, but you didn't need it from Chloe or Lana. If that doesn't speak volumes, then I don't know what does."

Clark took a step back from him, as those words melted into his mind—his heart—his soul, and in that moment, he realized the truth. He had felt bad for Chloe and he had felt hopeful that Lana could do something, but the only person he needed and wanted to make sure wasn't upset with him was Lois.

He didn't offer a way to fix this for Chloe.

He didn't offer a helping hand to Lana.

But he had to make sure that Lois wasn't mad at him.

What was it about her that made him feel like this?

"What am I supposed to do?"

Pete shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but you better figure it out fast."

Clark watched, quite solemnly, as his best friend walked away from him, his words reverberating in his mind over and over again.

Did he have a point? Did Lois have feelings for him? Did he have feelings for her?

He didn't know, but he was determined to figure out everything he was feeling.

Preferably, before things spiraled completely out of control, but even if it turned out that he did have feelings for her it wouldn't change anything. She was still leaving, and he would be stuck here in this small-town all by himself, wondering what could have been.

* * *

Later that day, Chloe and Lois were sitting down at a booth inside the Beanery, just enjoying each other's company, and trying their hardest not to dwell on things that they couldn't possibly control.

After leaving the school, they had went back home just to drop off their things before Lois had insisted on receiving a full tour of the small-town her cousin loved so much, and now—now they were eating a late lunch, relishing in the fact that they had managed to escape from their problems.

At least for the time being.

Chloe pushed away her empty plate, and leaned back in her seat with a satisfied expression plastered across her face. "Well, now I'm feeling much better than I did, but you do realize that when my father finds out I ditched school he is probably going to blame you."

Lois rolled her eyes at her, as she copied her movements, and crossed her hands in front of her, resting them on her stomach. "Your father loves me. He might be a little irritated, but he won't be that upset. He knows that we want to spend time together, hell, it's the whole reason he's allowing me to stay with you guys without informing my father I might add."

Chloe tilted her head to one side, slightly, as she stared at him. "You never explained how that happened. How did you convince my father, who is absolutely terrified of uncle Sam, to let you stay with us without him spilling all the beans?"

"That's easy. Your father cares more about my well-being than what my father wants. He knows that we needed this-that we needed to spend some quality time together, but um, I think it's highly possible that my father will never let me set foot back into this town when he realizes that I'm gone."

Chloe smiled, sadly, knowing that that was most likely going to happen. "Well, at least we have these few days, so let's enjoy them for as long as we can."

Lois nodded. "And let's not discuss my father. He is the last thing I want to talk about, let alone think about."

"Your right." She stared at her for the longest time, her mind unable to stop replaying the moment she noticed the undeniable bond between her cousin and best friend. "How about we discuss Clark Kent."

She frowned at her, slightly. "What about him? I already explained how we met, and how I ended up staying at the farm last night. What else is there to say?"

"I mean, the bond you two already share."

Lois froze at those words, not liking where this conversation was going, especially since she had noticed the jealousy radiating off of her in waves at the school, but that didn't mean she was going to give her the answers she so desperately wanted.

It wasn't because she didn't want to hurt her feelings, which was the complete truth, but it was because she didn't even understand what was happening, so why go into detail about it?

"Bond? We don't have a bond. I just met the guy."

Chloe sighed, softly at the way she was brushing off the topic like it was the black plague, and even though she wasn't too sure she wanted the answer to her question she also wanted to know what was really happening between them. "Oh. Come on, Lois. It's quite obvious. Pete noticed it, and I'm sure Lana did too. He acted like a completely different person around you. He was teasing you, which doesn't happen like ever. It's like you bring out a different side to him, and he does the same to you. I've never seen you behave like that."

"Chloe, your reading into something that isn't there. We're just friends. Did you ever think maybe I just like riling him up? As for him teasing me back I don't know what to tell you other than maybe he just enjoys it as much as I do."

Chloe eyed her, suspiciously. "Do you have feelings for him?"

Lois took a sharp intake of breath from those words, and even though she was confused by the many things she was experiencing when she was in his presence, she knew that she did feel something for him.

Whether it was romantic feelings or friendship ones she didn't know, but there was no way in hell she was admitting that to her. "No. I don't have feelings for him. I barely know him. How could I possibly like him after one day?"

"It's not the most unbelievable thing. People meet and fall in love just by looking at each other."

"Well, I don't believe in love at first sight, so that definitely isn't what is happening."

"Then what is happening?"

"Nothing, Chloe. You have nothing to worry about." When she didn't seem all that satisfied with her words, she pressed further, "Look, even if I did like him, I wouldn't do anything about it. I know you have feelings for him, and I'll be leaving sooner or later, so none of this matters anyways."

It wasn't exactly a lie, she thought to herself, she would be leaving and there would be no point in starting something with him, but that didn't mean she was clueless to the way he made her feel just by looking at her.

It could just be the fact that he was completely different from anyone else, and that had nothing to do with his incredible abilities or with his true origins. It could also be the fact that something was happening between them, but that wasn't something she would be trying to figure out.

She would be leaving.

He would be staying here.

There was no point in delving deeper into whatever was happening between them.

Even if he could travel from one place to another faster than a speeding bullet, they were going to remain friends.

At least for the time being.

Lex Luthor slowly made his way into the Beanery, intending to get a steaming cup of coffee before heading to the city to discuss the outcome of his event last night with some pretty influential benefactors, but stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the tall, brunette, who he had allowed into the Museum last night, sitting with none other than Chloe Sullivan.

How did they know each other? Why was she in Smallville?

Without hesitating, he slowly walked over to them, intending to get the answers to those questions, but was rendered speechless when he overheard part of their conversation regarding the one and only Clark Kent. Not only did she know the spunky high school reporter, but she had also met his fast growing friend, and from the sound of it they were debating on whether she had feelings for him or not.

That was intriguing, he thought to himself.

What was happening there? But, more importantly, how was Clark dealing with another woman, one who was quite feisty, coming into his life?

First it was Lana, who he obviously adored. Then it was Chloe, who clearly had feelings for him. And now it was Lois, who didn't seem like the type to fall for small-town boys.

It was going to be interesting finding out that information.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Lois Lane."

Lois glanced over at the familiar voice, her eyes widening from the sight of the man, who had not only allowed her into his event, but had also been beneficial in her meeting the mysterious man that was Clark Kent.

"Lex. This is quite a surprise. I never expected to see you again."

"I was going to say the same thing about you. What are you doing in Smallville?"

"Visiting my cousin." She frowned at him, as a particular thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute. How do you know my name? We barely talked for two minutes last night."

"Do you really think I wouldn't do my research? I had to make sure that you weren't going to start any trouble last night."

Figures, she thought to herself, this man clearly had trust issues up the wonka, but it's not like she could blame him for that.

Lionel Luthor was his father after all.

Chloe glanced between the two of them with a weird expression slowly spreading out across her face, and honestly, she was feeling more and more confused, as they continued talking like they've known each other for quite some time. "I'm sorry, but how do you two know each other?"

Lois chuckled, softly at the expression on her face. "I met him last night at the Museum."

"She attempted sneaking in through the back door, but I was kind enough to let her in," Lex added.

Chloe just nodded, not really liking the fact that her cousin was already involved with this man. It was one thing to have her best friend spending time with him, but her cousin was a completely different story. She might tolerate the man, but that didn't mean she liked him, and there was no way she was going to allow her cousin to befriend him.

Lex glanced back over at Lois. "I'm guessing this is your cousin?"

She nodded.

"And I'm also guessing that your father doesn't know you're here."

"You would be right, but he'll probably figure out where I am in a few days."

"Well, you should stop by the mansion before that happens. I'd love to get to know you better, especially since your related to this one. You can bring Clark too."

She just smiled at him, as he walked away from them.

Chloe snapped her head towards her, as soon as he was far enough away from them. "Lois, I want you to stay away from him as much as possible."

Lois frowned at her, slightly. "Why? Did he do something to you?"

"No, but he's a Luthor. I don't like him and neither does Pete. Clark seems to think he's trustworthy. Just be careful around him."

"Don't worry, Chlo. I know exactly who he is and what type of man he is. I'm here to spend time with you and no one else."

She smiled at her. "Good."

Lois glanced over at him, her eyes narrowing at him, slightly before she returned her gaze back to her cousin. "So, Clark and Lex are good friends?"

Chloe nodded. "Clark saved his life and they've been spending more and more time together. Martha and Jonathan don't approve, and neither does Pete, but it's not like we can stop him from befriending him."

Lois just nodded, not commenting any further on the subject, but couldn't squelch the slight fear that consumed every part of her being from the information she had just learned. Clark had saved his life probably using his abilities, and now they were friends.

That didn't just worry her.

It stirred something unfamiliar in the pit of her stomach.

What if Lex suspected something? Was that the reason he was friends with him?

She didn't know, but she did know that that man was the last person that needed to find out his secret. Not only because he was highly influential, but also because she got the feeling that he would use that information for his own personal needs, and there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen.

No one could find that out.

If the wrong person figured out that there was more to Clark Kent than met the eye, they would probably lock him up somewhere, run tests on him, and turn him into a living, breathing lab rat.

Even though she was confused by the things she was feeling for him, she knew that she wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

Chloe frowned at her, but nodded nonetheless. "I'll meet you outside."

Lois quickly made her way towards the front counter to pay for their food, while her cousin waited for her outside, and as she was waiting for the waitress to come back, she noticed the very man consuming her thoughts standing a few feet away from her talking to someone before she listened in on their conversation…

"Afternoon, Lex, or is it Mr. Luthor in Smallville?"

Lex stared at the man for a few seconds, his mind recalling all the times he had been in his presence in the past and the reasons for those interactions, and honestly, this was the last place he expected to find him. "Phelan. Isn't Smallville a couple counties out of your jurisdiction?"

"Well, I don't need jurisdiction to look up an old friend."

"We were never friends. If you wanted to see me then you should have called my office instead of ambushing me here."

Phelan seemed taken aback by those words, but it wasn't all that surprising either. "When does it happen, Lex?"

"When does what happen?"

"When do you turn on the people that help you. How many times did I pull you back from the edge? You'd be dead now if it wasn't for me."

His facial expression never changed. "You were on my father's payroll. You know, his go-to guy in the department. You got paid to fix situations, so don't try and pretend that it was anything else."

"You have a good life here, Lex. I'd sure hate to see that get compromised."

"You can't touch me, and you know it."

Phelan rose his hands in the air, as a sign of surrender. "Relax. I'm not here for you. I'm looking for a witness. I think he saw last night's accident outside of the Museum."

"And this concerns me why?"

Lois could feel her heart hammering inside of her chest like a jackhammer, as she listened to them, and in that moment, she was glad that she decided to listen to their conversation instead of ignoring that feeling that had been brewing in the pit of her stomach.

Not only did Lex know this man, but he was a police officer, one that was looking for a witness to the bus accident last night.

This wasn't good.

Not at all.

Against her better judgement, she turned around towards them, hoping that actually seeing them would answer the multitude of questions running through her mind, but was completely and utterly shocked when she saw him holding up a picture of Lex and Clark before she quickly turned back around, her heart beating even faster from the realization dawning on her.

He was looking for Clark.

He suspected that he had seen something or worse had done something.

Did he witness the accident like she did?

She didn't know, but she was going to find out.

Lex glanced down at the picture, feeling quite shocked that it was of his friend, but honestly, it didn't really surprise him either. Clark was always around when something crazy happened, hell, he was the only reason he was alive right now, and even though he was curious to the reasons this man wanted to find him that didn't mean he was going to give him what he wanted.

He was determined to find out the mystery that was Clark Kent, and there was no way in hell anyone was going to find out before he did.

"Sorry. I don't know who that is."

"Hmm. I would have pegged you for buddies."

"I guess you're losing your instinct."

Phelan watched Lex walk away from him before glancing over at the woman standing by the counter, the corner of his lips turning up into a sly grin, knowing that she had heard everything, and as he walked out of the Beanery, he knew that he was one step closer to getting what he wanted.

Lois very slowly glanced over her shoulder, as soon as she heard them stop talking, hoping and praying that they weren't there anymore, and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that they were gone.

There was a part of herself that had hoped this would have given her the chance to find out whether Lex had sinister plans for befriending her new friend, but instead she found out something else—something more worrisome than the elusive Luthor.

This man, Phelan, was more than a little intrigued with Clark, and it was quite obvious that he was hoping Lex would give him the answers he wanted, but luckily that didn't happen.

But…

It was still worrying.

He might not have gotten any information, but she highly doubted that he would drop this, and no matter what she wouldn't let him get any closer to the truth.

After making up some random excuse to her cousin, which she doubted she believed, she made her way towards the familiar farmhouse, hoping and praying that he would be there. This crazy turn of events wasn't good, actually, it was very, very bad, and she needed to tell him everything.

And she needed to tell him now.

* * *

All the way across town, Clark slowly made his way into the barn, his mind consumed with thoughts of the many problems he was experiencing in his life right now, and honestly, it was all because one feisty, determined brunette eavesdropped on his conversations last night, but he would never regret meeting her—spending the entire night with her—telling her the truth.

In a matter of hours, she had changed everything for him.

One week ago, he had been living his life as normally as possible. He went to school. He spent time with his friends. His parents weren't worried. And he knew what he wanted from the girl next door.

But now—now everything was different.

The only thing he could think about at school was her. The only thing he discussed with Pete was her. His parents were worried that someone would find out the truth now that she knew, more so his father than his mother. And he didn't know what he was feeling for Lana anymore.

How was it possible for one human girl to change absolutely everything in his life?

He didn't know, but he did know that he was more than okay with things continuing to change in his life, especially if it was because of her—because of Lois. Of course, he knew that he shouldn't want things to change—that he shouldn't be feeling like this, but she brought out a completely different side to him, and he wanted to explore that even more.

He started making his way up towards the loft, but stopped in his tracks when he heard a loud thump coming from behind the tractor. "Hello? Hello? Is anybody home?"

Silence.

"Dad, is that you?"

Nothing but silence.

He shrugged his shoulders, thinking that he was hearing things before he started heading towards the stairs, but stopped once again as soon as he noticed something shining on the ground, and kneeled down, picking it up, his eyes widening to the size of saucers when he realized what it was. "Metropolis police?"

All of a sudden, the generator on the pulley hanging above him snapped before falling to the ground, causing him to look up in surprise before it pinned him to the floor flat on his back.

Lois slowly made her into the barn, knowing that that was the only other place he could be since he wasn't inside the house, and was seconds away from announcing her presence, but was rendered completely and utterly speechless, as she watched the generator fall directly on top of him, her heart practically leaping out of her chest from the sight of him like that. "CLARK!"

"Lois?" Clark quickly pushed the generator off of his chest, sending it flying in the other direction at the sound of her worried voice, and quickly sat up, his stomach turning and twisting into thousands of knots at the sight of her running towards him before dropping down to her knees in front of him. "Lois, what are you doing here?"

"That doesn't matter." She roamed her eyes over every single inch of his body before her hazel eyes locked onto his aquamarine ones. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Lois."

He glanced up towards the pulley, wondering how it could have just fallen since that has never happened, but before he could question it any further, she spoke again, worry laced in her voice, "Are you sure your okay?"

His eyes naturally gravitated back to hers. "I'm fine, Lois. That wouldn't have hurt me, or are you forgetting the fact that I'm practically invulnerable?"

She gave him a look. "Your forgetting that I just learned last night, so it's going to take me a minute to get used to things like that not hurting you."

A soft smile appeared on his face from that, but it quickly fell at the way she was looking at him, like she was still questioning if he was actually okay, and as their eyes meshed together, he could see the truth radiating out of her beautiful orbs.

She was worried about him.

She didn't want anything happening to him.

That stirred something unfamiliar in the pit of his stomach, and honestly, the thought of her worrying about him excited him in more ways than one.

"Was the fearless Lois Lane worried about little ole me?"

Lois rolled her eyes at his teasing manner before standing up, her hands effectively brushing off the dirt from her clothes. "In your dreams, farm boy."

"Admit it." He slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving hers, as he smirked. "You were worried about me."

"So what if I was?" She told him, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It just means that you care."

Her eyes never left his. "I do care about you, Clark."

Those words coming out of her mouth and the way she was looking at him caused him to gulp, silently, not only from the unspoken feelings—emotions reverberating from her, but also from the many things it was making him feel inside.

She cared about him.

Just like he cared about her.

"I care about you too, Lois."

They smiled, widely at each other from the wide range of things they were feeling, and as his cerulean eyes meshed with her hazel ones, they could feel themselves slipping away—feel themselves getting lost—feeling themselves fading into each other.

It was like everything surrounding them was fading into the distant background until it was just the two of them.

Just Lois and Clark.

Their mesmerizing moment was interrupted by loud clapping coming from the entrance to the barn causing both of them to turn around towards the man walking closer to them before Clark frowned at him, not recognizing him at all, while Lois felt fear grip her heart from the sight of the man, she came here to warn him about.

"Kid, I don't know what they've been feeding you, but that was pretty impressive."

_**And the love triangle has begun. **_

_**We will now be getting more into the aspects of this particular episode. Their will still be A/U moments, but the things that will happen are going to undoubtedly bring Clark and Lois closer. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter five **_


	7. Chapter Six

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Six: **_

"Kid, I don't know what they've been feeding you, but that was pretty impressive."

Clark felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach at the unfamiliar man' words, knowing that he had witnessed everything that had just happened, actually, it was highly possible that this entire thing had been a set up. "Who are you?"

"I'm your new best friend, Clark."

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh. I asked around. That's the beauty of a small-town. Everyone is just so eager to help; you know it's a far cry from Metropolis."

Lois glared at the man standing in front of them. "He means that he went to Lex for information."

"Lex?" Clark glanced down at her, noticing the heated look in her eyes, as she looked at this man, and instantly realized that there was a reason she came to the farm.

Was it because of him? What did Lex have to do with this?

"Lois? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later."

"It's never goof to keep secrets in a relationship." He picked up his badge off the ground before smirking, wickedly at her. "It's funny that I find you here, Lois Lane. You were at the Museum last night. You were at the Beanery eavesdropping on my conversation, and now you're here."

Clark quickly pushed down the several questions ringing in his mind, including the fact that she knew his friend before moving closer to this man, effectively stepping in front of her, not liking the way he was looking at her and definitely not liking the feeling that rose inside of him from the way he was talking to her. "What do you want from me?"

"Your help. You see, Clark, I'm in a battle that I can't afford to lose because if I do the bad guy wins, and you have this gift that I need." He moved closer to him, and placed his hand on his shoulder, which Clark quickly shook off.

"I'll never help you."

"Except that you will, or your little girlfriend will pay the price for your negligence."

Clark growled low in his throat, as he stepped closer to her, like he was protecting her from this man just by simply being next to her.

Lois was quite taken aback by his overprotective nature, but quickly pushed that feeling down, not wanting to touch that with a ten-foot pole at this point in time, and glared ever harder at the man. "Did you just threaten me?"

"Of course not," he told her, as he took a few steps away from them, and glanced over at the young man, who seemed pretty keen on keeping her directly next to him, like that was his way of protecting her. "You have a secret that you don't want getting out, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want it getting out either, especially since she raced over here after I left. I'm guessing that's why you didn't stick around for the tv cameras last night, and it's also the reason you disappeared with her. If you want to keep things that way then you'll do exactly as I say."

He slowly started to turn away from them, but stopped right before he reached the doors, and glanced over at them from his shoulder. "Drop by that overpriced coffee shop tomorrow afternoon and we'll talk about your future. You can bring her along if you want. This involves her just as much as you."

He glanced down at the severely damaged generator. "Nice catch."

And with that he walked away with a smug smile gracing his lips.

Clark and Lois slowly glanced over at each other with worried expressions slowly spreading out across their faces, their eyes revealing just how worried they were about this situation, as their hearts beat, rapidly inside of their chests from the mere thought of what was going to happen.

What were they going to do?

Clark quickly started pacing back and forth, as his mind went on overload from everything that had happened, and honestly, he should have known better—he should have known that he wouldn't have escaped without someone witnessing him using his abilities, of course Lois had seen him, but she was different—she was trustworthy.

This man wasn't.

"How the hell did I let this happen?"

Lois quickly walked over to him, immediately noticing the pure guilt that was not only laced in his words, but was also plastered across his worried and tense face. "This wasn't your fault, Clark."

"Of course, it is my fault." He slowly turned around towards her with an expression of pure irritation and slight anger lingering on his face, which caused her to take a step back from him since she had never seen him this worked up in the short time she has known him. "If I would have just listened to my parents then this wouldn't be happening."

"What were you going to do? Just let that homeless man die? What about all those people in the Museum? You're a hero, Clark. Whether that man sees it or not. I know that what you did was right. So do your parents, and I know that deep inside you do too."

Her words caused him to smile, softly from the way she was defending him, but it quickly faded at the mere thought of what this was going to do to his family. His mother would be upset, and his father would be furious.

What the hell was he going to do? He questioned himself, as he continued pacing back and forth.

Lois watched, as emotion after emotion crossed over his handsome features, and even though she knew that they needed to figure this out she couldn't help wondering what he was feeling—what he was thinking.

Was he blaming her? Did he think she told someone? Was he doubting her? Did he wish she never witnessed him using his abilities last night?

"Clark, I know that this is very bad, actually it's the whole reason I came over here. I wanted to warn you, but I want, no, I need you to know that he didn't find out from me."

Clark immediately stopped pacing from the rushed words coming out of her mouth like she was trying to say so many things at one time, and glanced over at her, instantly realizing that she wasn't just worried about this situation, but she was also terrified that he thought this was her fault. That thought had never even crossed his mind. When he told her the truth, he knew that she could be trustworthy, and that wouldn't change just because someone had witnessed him using his abilities.

Just like she had.

But…

It did raise a few questions.

Why was she scared that he would blame her when it was quite obvious that he had seen him last night? Why was she so worked up about this? Why would she think something like that?

A soft smile graced his lips from the truth literally staring him in the face.

She really did care about him.

She didn't want anything to happen to them—to their friendship.

She didn't want him to blame her.

She didn't want to lose their growing relationship.

Before he could tell her that none of those things were possible, she continued speaking, "I would never, ever tell anyone. I know we just met, but I promised not only you, but also your parents that I wouldn't say anything, and even if I didn't make that promise I still wouldn't tell anyone. I came over here to tell you about what I overheard him and Lex discussing, but—"

"Lois!" He interrupted her never-ending rant, and as soon as he was positive that he had her complete attention he moved a little closer to her before resting his hand on her shoulder, squeezing, softly. "I believe you. I know you wouldn't tell anyone. I trust you with this. I wouldn't have told you if I didn't, besides it's quite obvious that he was at the Museum last night. I don't know why you would jump to the conclusion that I would assume you told him, but I know the truth. You would never break my trust."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

She smiled, widely at him, loving the way he understood her in ways no one else did before glancing over towards the doorway. "What are we going to do?"

He sighed, heavily. "I have no idea."

They both quickly made their way out of the barn towards the farmhouse, knowing that things had just become ten times more complicated in their lives, and they not only had to figure out a way to tell Martha and Jonathan without them freaking out, but they also had to find a way to deal with the rogue cop without giving him what he wanted.

What were they going to do?

Thirty minutes later, Jonathan and Martha were sitting across from their son and the woman they had just met this morning, as their minds were reeling from everything they had told them, and honestly, they couldn't believe that this had happened.

It was one thing to have one person, who they had just met, witnessing their son using his abilities and knowing the full truth about him, but to have someone else witnessing the same exact thing she had and intending on using that to his own advantage was another thing entirely.

Jonathan quickly pushed down the frustration and slight anger he was feeling from this situation, as he glanced between the two of them before his eyes locked onto his son. "So? He just dropped the generator right on top of you?"

"How did he know it wouldn't kill you?" Martha added.

Clark sighed, heavily from his parent's questions, not wanting to discuss this any further, but he knew that they needed to figure this out as a family. "He witnessed me stopping the bus last night, so he knew that it wouldn't hurt me. I guess he just wanted to prove that what he saw last night wasn't just a part of his imagination."

Martha shook her head from side to side from the predicament they were in, and honestly, it was difficult enough attempting to get used to the idea that the woman sitting directly in front of her knew everything, especially since that bombshell was only dropped this morning, but to have another person in the mix of things only made things more and more complicated. "Maybe we should call the police?"

"And tell them what?"

"It wouldn't help any," Lois added before continuing, "He is the police. We saw his badge. Metropolis Police Department to be exact."

Clark slowly glanced over at his father, not liking how silent he was being, and felt fear grip every fiber in his being from the mere thought of what was going through his mind. He was still getting used to the idea that he had been completely honest with his new friend, but to have someone else, who obviously wasn't as trustworthy as her, witnessing the same exact thing she did was only going to make matters ten times worse.

"Dad…look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

Jonathan smiled, softly at his son, knowing exactly what was going through that head of his. "Clark, you didn't do anything wrong, okay?"

He nodded. "He told the both of us to meet him at the Beanery tomorrow—"

"I don't want either of you going near this guy," he interrupted him, and as soon as he was positive that both of them understood that he was being completely serious about this, he continued, "I'll talk to him tomorrow and find out what he wants."

"Until then—"

"Until then you both are going to live your lives," Martha interrupted him. "Clark, your going to see your friends. Lois, your going to spend time with your family. No matter what, we're not going to let this change us."

Lois grinned, internally at the way both of them had taken this unsettling information in stride, of course it was obvious that they were both just as worried about this as they were, but she knew that as long as they all worked together they could figure all of this out without the rogue cop getting what he wanted. "Well, I'm glad we're all on the same page about this, but um, there is something else you should know…"

Jonathan sighed, heavily from her words, not knowing if he could take anything more after finding out a police officer from Metropolis had his sights on his son. "What else is going on?"

"It's nothing too serious, but it does have something to do with someone we all know." She glanced between all three of them. "Before I came over here I was at the Beanery with Chloe. That's where I overheard him talking to someone about Clark. It's the whole reason I was here when he showed up."

Martha frowned, slightly at her. "Who was he talking to?"

"Lex."

Jonathan growled, silently from that particular name slipping past her lips, but instead of focusing on his hatred for that man and his family he focused on the mere fact that he was somehow involved in this. "How is Lex involved in this?"

"I don't know, but I think it's worth looking into. I don't know the man very well, but I have met men like him, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he was talking to this cop about Clark no less."

Clark frowned at her words before glancing over at her. "What do you mean they were talking about me?"

"I mean, that this detective went to Lex for information before coming here."

Jonathan curled his hands into fists at his side, not liking the new bit of information he was learning. "Did he tell him anything?"

She shook her head from side to side. "Not that I could tell. Lex pretended like he didn't even know him, which could be a good thing, but I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about this guy not because of who he is or who his father is, but because I just get the feeling that he isn't being completely honest about certain things."

"And rightly so."

"Jonathan…" Martha warned, as she shook her head from side to side. "We've talked about this. You can't keep putting the faults of the father onto the son. For all we know Lex could be a decent guy. He hasn't wronged us in any way, and he's only ever treated our son with kindness."

Lois smiled, softly at the woman sitting across from her, loving the way she always looked for the best in people, but in this case she had a feeling that she was wrong, and she intended to figure out whether this man could be trusted or not. "It's nothing too serious, but I don't think we should just overlook it."

Clark stared at her, as she discussed his friend with his parents, and honestly, he couldn't believe that she already had doubts about a man she didn't even know, but even more so he couldn't believe that they once again knew the same person.

Why did that keep happening?

"How do you even know Lex?"

"Was that all you grasped this entire conversation?" At the look of pure exasperation he was giving her from her sarcastic remark, she sighed, heavily before relegating to telling him exactly what he wanted to know. "If you must know, I met Lex last night at the Museum, actually, he is the only reason I was able to get inside. As you know, I tried sneaking in, but that didn't go as planned. He was the one who allowed me to come inside without a ticket I might add."

"So, you're telling me that the whole reason we met was because of him?"

She nodded.

"And that has you thinking he is bad news why?"

A heavy sigh escaped past her lips. "It has nothing to do with that. He was generous last night, but when I saw him today I got a completely different feeling from him. Even Chloe feels the same way. I'm not saying we should immediately interrogate the guy or even assume that he knows anything, but we should be a little more careful around him for the time being, especially since it's obvious that he has a past with this guy."

Jonathan nodded his head in agreement. "She's right, Clark."

Clark glanced between the three of them before shaking his head from side to side. "I know that you don't like him, but he's my friend. Even if he has a past with this guy it doesn't mean that they are working together."

"You can't be absolutely positive about that," Martha tried rationalizing with him.

"No, I can't, but he pretended to not know me. So, maybe this is his way of protecting me or at least keeping this guy off my trail for the time being. He doesn't know anything, and I highly doubt that this guy is going to say anything to him."

"You don't know that, son."

"No, I don't, but he's my friend and I trust him."

Lois stared at him for the longest time with an expression of confusion slowly spreading out across her face, not able to believe how hard he was attempting to get his parents to believe that Lex wasn't bad news, of course, she had noticed their friendship last night, but how could he just overlook everything she had told him?

She didn't know, but she did know that if they kept discussing this it was only going to start an argument between the three of them, and honestly, Lex wasn't the most important thing that they needed to worry about right now.

It was the detective.

"I'm just saying that we need to be careful not only around Lex, but everyone. Someone already figured out that you have abilities. We really don't need anyone else finding out."

"What do you suppose we do?"

"Exactly what your parents told us to do…" she trailed off, as she locked eyes with the man sitting across from her. "I know that you plan on talking to him tomorrow, but if worse comes to worse I know someone who could help us with this situation."

Jonathan frowned at her, slightly. "Who?"

"A friend of mine. It's risky though. He's at the base in Metropolis where my father will be returning to in a few days. I don't think he would tell him where I am, but he can get a little anxious around him, especially since he plans on enlisting as soon as he possible can. It would be a last resort if anything."

Jonathan shook his head from side to side. "I'd rather not involve anyone else in this. I'll take care of this myself."

Lois smiled, softly at him, and even though she understood that he wanted to protect his son in his own way, she also knew that it might not work. If that was the case then she would have no choice then to go to him.

No matter what, she would protect her new friend and his family.

Hopefully, they could figure this out before she was forced to not only put her friend in a compromising situation, but also ruin the freedom she has been relishing in from the moment she left the base last night.

"Well, um, I should probably get going before Chloe sends out a search party for me."

Clark immediately tensed from her words, not wanting her to leave when it was quite obvious that this man not only wanted him, but intended on using her to get to him. "Are you sure that's a good idea? He threatened you. Don't you think you should stay here until we figure everything out?"

"Clark, that beats the purpose of living our lives normally, besides I kind of just ditched my cousin at the Beanery, so I have to go back, or she really will start to worry, hell, she would probably contact my father just to find me."

"I don't know…"

She sighed, heavily at his overprotective tendencies, of course it was kind of cute in the barn earlier, but right now it was just grating on her nerves just a little bit. "Clark, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, or did you forget that I was raised by a Four Star General?"

"No, but I just don't think you should be alone with this guy in the mix of things."

"I'll be fine. I promise." At the worried expression slowly spreading out across his face, she sighed, softly, knowing that he wasn't going to let her leave by herself. "Will it make you feel better if you take me to Chloe' house yourself?"

He nodded with a victorious grin slowly gracing his lips.

She rolled her eyes, dramatically. "Well, then let's get going, Mr. Overprotective."

Clark narrowed his eyes at her, slightly. "I'm not overprotective."

"Yes, you are, but I'll let it go just this one time."

He quirked a brow at her. "And next time?"

A smirk spread out across her face. "Next time you won't be getting your way."

"Why do I get the feeling that you like getting your way all of the time?"

Lois just grinned, widely at him before shrugging her shoulders, and walking out the front door, which he was quick to follow.

As soon as they had disappeared out the front door, Martha and Jonathan glanced at each other with knowing expressions slowly spreading out across their faces, both of them knowing that that little playful argument had very little to do with the predicament they were in, actually, it had everything to do with what they were feeling for each other even if they didn't know it yet.

Their son was using the problem they were facing as an excuse to spend more time with her, and Lois, well she didn't seem to fight him on the matter too hard, so it was quite obvious that she wanted to spend more time with him as well.

"So? When do you think they are going to realize it?"

Martha smiled, widely at her handsome husband. "Probably not until all of this is over, but I can tell you that it's going to change a lot of things for both of them."

"Do you think she will stay?"

"I really hope so. She is exactly what our son needs."

Jonathan nodded, completely agreeing with her.

It was quite obvious what was happening between them.

Hopefully, they would realize it before her father found her and inevitably forced her to leave every single one of them.

Outside, Clark and Lois were walking side by side in complete and utter silence, as their minds were consumed with nothing other than the several problems they were facing. This morning, the only thing they were dealing with was the fact that they had embarked on this new friendship, but in a matter of hours everything had changed, and now they had to deal with this rogue cop, who obviously planned on using what he already knew to his advantage.

Clark was the first one to break the silence between them. "So, um, earlier you mentioned that you knew someone who could help us. Who is he?"

Lois stopped walking from his words, and glanced over at him, sensing a hint of jealousy laced in his voice, but pushed that feeling down, knowing that he couldn't possibly be jealous over a guy he didn't even know.

They were friends.

There was no reason he would be jealous.

"I've known him since we were little. Both of his parents are in the military, so of course he is forced to move from base to base just like me, but unlike myself he wants to enlist. There were a few times his family was stationed in other places then we were, but we always found our way back to each other. He's my best friend."

"Just your best friend?"

Honestly, he didn't really know why he was questioning her about this guy. He didn't know him, but when she had mentioned that she had a guy friend that could help them he couldn't help feeling a little jealous over the man, and even when she was just talking about him he couldn't stop himself from feeling a little jealous over the guy.

It was irrational.

It made absolutely no sense.

They were friends, and they would probably only ever be friends, but he could admit to himself that he didn't like the feeling that rose inside of himself when she talked about him.

Lois narrowed her eyes at him, slightly from the tone in his voice, and couldn't help wondering why he was so curious about him, but as soon as she locked her hazel eyes onto his aquamarine ones, she realized the truth, hell, it was staring her directly in the face.

He was jealous.

Clark Kent was jealous.

That thought alone stirred something unfamiliar in the deepest part of herself, and even though there was a part of herself that wished she could allow herself to relish in that feeling just like she normally would, she knew that that wasn't possible.

Not with him.

She would be leaving sooner rather than later, and there was no point in confronting her confusing feelings for this one man.

"Yes, Clark. He's just a friend." She quickly changed the subject, not wanting to confuse her confuddled mind even more than it already was. "So, um, I should probably tell Chloe I haven't been abducted while we wait for the cab to get here."

Clark frowned at her words. "Cab? You took a cab here?"

She nodded before smirking at the expression of confusion lingering on his face. "How did you think I got here?"

He just simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I should probably call them." She started pulling out her cellphone, but was stopped by him placing his hands on her own, causing her to look at him completely surprised, as her heart pounded like a jackhammer inside of her chest from their close proximity. "What are you doing?"

"You don't need to call a cab, Lois. I can take you there myself."

Lois quickly stepped away from him when he started moving closer to her, intending to sweep her up into his arms just like he had done last night, before giving him a pointed look. "I don't think so."

Clark frowned at her, slightly. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Clark, I'm not saying this to upset you or anything, but have you learned nothing since last night? Two people witnessed you using your abilities last night. We can't let anyone else find out that there is more to you than meets the eye."

Of course, he knew that she had a point, but there was a little flaw to her plan. "I can't just stop using my abilities. Lois, I already told you about the effects the meteor rocks have on people in this town. They are dangerous. I can't just allow them to hurt the people I care about."

It figures that he would only take that literally, she thought to herself.

"I'm not saying you should stop saving people. I'm just saying that you shouldn't use your abilities for simple things like taking me to my cousin. It's only going to make it easier for someone to witness you doing something that they couldn't possibly understand." A smirk spread out across her face, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It looks like I'm going to have to teach you some better tact."

He smirked right back at her. "Does that mean you plan on sticking around longer to teach me that little lesson?"

"Maybe…"

"I'm going to hold you to that, Miss Lane."

She narrowed her eyes at his teasing manner. "How about you go fetch us a ride, Mr. Kent unless you want my cousin to kick your ass for keeping me away this long."

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." Her teasing smile fell, as soon as he turned away from her.

As much as she was enjoying spending time with him, she knew that the things she was experiencing wouldn't last. They never did. The truth was inevitable…she would only be here for a few more days at most, and even though that thought alone saddened her in more ways than one, she refused to let the fact that she would be leaving stop her from enjoying these little moments of happiness she was sharing with him.

It was the first time she has ever felt this happy, and if she was being honest with herself she never, ever wanted to stop feeling this way.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Chloe was pacing back and forth in her bedroom, as her mind couldn't stop thinking of her wayward cousin, who has been gone for quite some time now. When she had told her that she had something to do while they were still at the Beanery she didn't really think twice about it, but now—now she was starting to worry.

This wasn't like her.

She didn't do things like this.

What was she doing? Where was she? Was she okay? Did something happen? Why hasn't she called her yet? Why wasn't she back yet?

All of those questions came to an abrupt stop when she heard the sound of a very familiar rumbling truck directly outside of her house, and rushed over to the window, her heart sinking to the deepest part of herself from what she was witnessing.

Her cousin was getting out of the familiar red truck with her best friend.

There was a part of herself that knew she shouldn't be surprised by this sudden turn of events since it was blatantly obvious that they had deeper feelings for each other even if they didn't realize it yet, but the other part of herself had hoped that her cousin was telling her the truth when she informed her that nothing was going on between them.

That was obviously a lie, she thought to herself, as she watched them from her windowsill.

They were standing pretty close to each other, and it was quite obvious that they were discussing something serious from the way they were looking at each other.

What was going on?

As much as she wanted an answer to that question, she just couldn't get over the fact that the entire reason her cousin left her at the Beanery was because of him—because she was with him.

It broke her heart into a million pieces.

How could she tell her that she wouldn't act on her obvious feelings for him for her sake, but then spend the better half of the afternoon with him?

She didn't know, but she was determined to figure it out.

As soon as Lois walked into the bedroom, Chloe crossed her arms over her chest, attempting to hide the heartbreak she was feeling, but she knew that it was written all over her face. "So, that's where you've been? With Clark? I thought you said that you had something important to take care of?"

Here we go, Lois thought to herself, as she moved further into the room.

There was a part of herself that knew her cousin wasn't going to like the fact that she has been with the man she had promised that she didn't have feelings for, but the other part of herself had hoped that she wasn't going to make a deal about this.

Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

"Chloe, I need you to relax. It's not what it looks like."

"It looks like you left me to spend time with my best friend. I thought you said that you didn't have feelings for him?"

"I don't."

"Then why were you with him?"

"I wasn't with him the whole time. I really did have something to take care, and I did take care of It, but Martha called me when I was on my way back to you. I left something at the farmhouse last night. Clark was generous enough to drive me home. It was nothing more and nothing less then that." She took a few steps towards her. "You have nothing to worry about, Chloe. I told you that I would never do anything like that to you, and I meant it. We're just friends. Nothing more."

It was a lie, she thought to herself, the fact that she had to lie to the closest person to her was literally tearing her heart into pieces, but it's not like she could tell her the truth—it's not like she could tell her that the only reason she was with him was because of the predicament they had found themselves in—it's not like she could tell her that she was confused by the things she was feeling for him, especially with the way she was behaving after spending just a few hours with the guy.

"You promise?"

She smiled, softly. "I promise."

Chloe quickly changed the subject, not wanting to discuss either of their feelings any longer, especially since it was creating some heavy tension between them. "So, um, my father found out I ditched school."

"What? How did he find out?"

A soft sigh escaped past her lips. "He came home for lunch, which never happens, and of course that was right at the moment I arrived at the house. He wasn't that thrilled, but after I explained everything to him he understood. He seemed completely okay with it when he left for work, but he made it perfectly clear that it was never going to happen again."

Lois chuckled, softly at that. "At least you didn't get into trouble."

"At least we didn't get into trouble," she corrected her, but when she gave her a confused look she pressed further, "You might only be visiting for a few days, but that doesn't mean you get to escape from getting a good scolding from your favorite uncle."

"Oh great. I'm guessing he plans on giving this scolding tonight."

Chloe nodded. "Speaking of, he wants us both home for dinner tonight."

Lois rose a brow at that. "Dinner? As in a home cooked meal? When did uncle Gabe learn to cook?"

"He didn't. It will most likely be take out, but he still wants us here."

Lois chuckled, softly at that, but honestly, it didn't matter if it was a freshly home cooked meal or take out from a cheap restaurant. This would be the first time in a very long time since she has sat down and enjoyed a family meal, of course, she had done the same thing with Clark and his family, but this would be different.

It would be different because it was with her actual family.

As hard as she tried not getting overly excited about this one simple thing, she couldn't help doing just that. It was something she hasn't experienced since her mother passed away, and she wouldn't mind doing it more and more.

"So, I guess that means we still have some time to explore this lovely town of yours?"

She quirked a brow at her. "You still want a tour?"

"Of course, I do. I have no idea when this little vacation is going to end, so I want to make the most of the time I have."

Chloe grinned lopsided at her, as she shook her head from side to side before moving closer to her, and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, beginning to pull her down the hall. "Well, I can guarantee that this little tour will take at most one hour."

"And now you understand why I hate small-towns."

"Smallville isn't that bad."

"Yeah. We'll see about that."

Chloe rolled her eyes at her, as they walked out of the house with their arms still wrapped around each other. Even though she was still feeling a little downhearted from whatever was happening between her and her best friend, she wasn't going to allow those feelings to ruin what little time she had left with her.

No matter what, she was feeling, she wasn't going to let anything stop them from spending these next few days together.

It was the only thing that mattered.

A few hours later, Lois was leaning against the brick wall with her eyes closed just relishing in the fresh air brushing across her skin, as she waited for her cousin to come back outside with their coffees.

After spending the day gallivanting around the town, they had practically worn themselves out, and they both needed some much-needed caffeine before heading home for the night.

It was weird, she thought to herself, ever since her mother passed away she has never, ever used that word.

_Home. _

It was new to her, but for some reason it felt right saying it. Maybe it was because this was the first time in a long time since she felt like this or maybe it was because she was surrounded by people who cared about her instead of people who just depended on her.

It was different, and if she was being honest with herself she could admit that she never wanted to stop feeling this way—she could admit that she didn't want to leave everything she was feeling behind.

She didn't want to leave this town.

She didn't want to leave her cousin and uncle.

She didn't want to leave Martha and Jonathan.

But, most of all, she didn't want to leave him—leave Clark.

Could it be possible? Was it possible for her to keep feeling all of these things forever? When her father inevitably found her would she be able to convince him to let her stay?

Probably not, she thought to herself, but it was worth a shot.

"Someone is in deep thought."

Lois slowly blinked her eyes open at the sound of the last voice she wanted to hear right now, and straightened her posture, her arms crossing over her chest, as she glared at the man. "What are you doing here?"

Phelan grinned at the brash woman standing directly in front of him. "I'm just taking a stroll just like you. This is a small-town, Lois. We're bound to bump into each other every once in a while."

"Your taking a pretty long stroll. We saw your badge. You're a police officer for Metropolis not Smallville, so again I ask, what are you doing here?"

"Your quite perceptive. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Well, I guess that's what happens when you've been raised by a Four Star General." A sly grin spread out across her face when she noticed the way he took a step back from her like that was the last thing he expected her to say. "What? Did you do your homework? Or did you just assume that I was like every other person in this town?"

"It doesn't change anything. Your father, whoever he might be can't do anything to me, and neither can the government. They don't have jurisdiction here."

"Neither do you." She pushed herself off the wall before moving a little closer to the man. "You might have Clark scared of whatever your planning, but I intend on stopping you from getting what you want. I have connections, and not just through the government. I won't hesitate to use them to get you off our backs."

Phelan took another step back from her, not liking the way she was getting the better half of him in this particular situation, but even though she could potentially ruin everything for him, he wasn't going to allow that to stop him from getting exactly what he wanted from the mysterious farm boy.

Even if that meant he had to take care of the problem himself.

"Like I said, it doesn't change anything. Your both going to help me whether you want to or not."

Lois watched him disappear down the darkened streets before she leaned her back against the wall once again. It was quite obvious that nothing was going to stop this man. Not even a subtle threat of what her father would do to him if he found out he was blackmailing her, of course, she didn't intend on telling him anything, but if things got even worse then they already were she would have no choice but to contact her closest confidant.

Wes Keenan.

He was trustworthy, but if put under pressure by her father he would tell him everything, and even though he was their best bet at getting out of this situation she would only go to him as a last resort.

Hopefully, they could figure this out before she was forced to put her freedom and happiness on the line.

Chloe quickly made her way out of the Beanery with two cups of steaming coffee in her hands, but before she could even utter a single word to her cousin she noticed that something was wrong.

It was practically written all over her face.

"Lois? What's wrong?"

Lois smiled, softly at her cousin, attempting to hide the fact that she was worried. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

Chloe gave her a pointed look. "No, your not. What happened in the few minutes I was gone?"

"Nothing." At the look her cousin was giving her she knew that she had to tell her something that she would believe, but more than that she had to convince her that they needed to make a little pitstop before going home. "I promise it's nothing other than my own fears."

She frowned at her, slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I first decided to come visit you I didn't think I would enjoy it so much. I mean, I knew that I would enjoy every second I spent with you, but I didn't think I would enjoy being in this town this much. There's a part of me that doesn't want to leave, but I know that eventually I'll have no choice in the matter."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. Even though she wished that she could be completely honest with her, she knew that she couldn't not only because she wouldn't understand, but also because it would only complicate things between them further.

Chloe smiled, sympathetically at her. "I'm sure we can arrange something with uncle Sam. Maybe we can visit each other like we did when we were younger."

"One can only hope."

Chloe quickly changed the subject, not wanting her cousin to dwell on things that they couldn't change. "How about we just go home and enjoy a nice meal with my father? We can deal with your father when the time comes."

Lois nodded. "Before we do that there's a stop we need to make."

"Where?"

Here goes nothing, she thought to herself, it was hard enough attempting to get her cousin to believe that nothing was going on between them, but this couldn't wait until the morning. She had an idea on what they could possibly do to stop this man from getting what he wanted, especially since he had inadvertently revealed the slight doubt he felt during their conversation, and she needed to tell Clark as soon as possible.

"The farmhouse."

The smile fell from her face instantaneously. "You want to see Clark?"

"Yes, but its not what you think. I promise it will be quick, and we'll be back at your house before uncle Gabe gets home from work."

"Fine, but let's make it quick or we're both getting a lecture when we get home."

Lois grinned, widely at her before dragging her down the street, feeling more than grateful that her cousin didn't question her too much on the situation.

Chloe sighed, internally.

What was so important that she needed to see him tonight? They had practically spent the majority of the evening together, and now she wanted to see him again? Why?

She didn't know, but she figured that this was her chance to find out what was really going on between them.

There was a part of herself that already knew the answer to those questions, but the other part of herself needed—wanted to know the truth. Not only because it would change everything, but also because it would give her some insight on the situation. If they did have feelings for each other she wouldn't get in the way of that, but she also wasn't going to allow her cousin of all people to lie to her about it.

No matter what, she would get the truth even if it broke her heart in the process.

_**I want to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Life kind of got in the way of this story, and I needed to sort all of that out before posting an update for this. I'll try not to make you all wait so long from this point forward. **_

_**As for this chapter, Lois is definitely having some internal struggles from having to continuously reassure her cousin to dealing with her own feelings. Chloe, on the other hand, is a little more complex to write, especially since she has feelings for Clark. I've read several stories where she gets in the way of Clark and Lois. That wont be happening in this story, but she isn't just going to take their feelings for each other in stride either. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter six **_


	8. Chapter Seven

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Seven: **_

Martha and Jonathan were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching the nightly news before they turned in for the night when they heard the sound of a car pulling up directly outside of the house, and both of them frowned, as they wondered who could possibly be here at this time of night.

Their frowns quickly transformed into surprised smiles when the woman they already cared about a lot and the woman they've known for years walked into the farmhouse.

Martha smiled, softly at both of them. "Chloe. Lois. What are you guys doing here so late?"

Chloe smiled back at her, but it was strained. She really, really wanted to get all of the answers she wanted, but there was a small part of herself that didn't want to know at the same time, even though the not knowing was killing her inside.

The entire ride over here, she attempted figuring out how she was going to do this. She couldn't question her cousin anymore. She would just tell her the same exact thing she has told her ever since she met her best friend, but maybe just maybe Martha and Jonathan could give her the answers she needed—wanted, even if it broke her heart.

"We apologize for just stopping by unannounced, but Lois here needed to talk to Clark."

Jonathan frowned, slightly, as he wondered what she could possibly want to talk to his son about this late, but the expression lingering on her face told him everything he needed to know.

Something had happened.

Whether it was life threatening or not, he didn't know, but he did know that it had to be about the man, who was making their lives hell.

It was the only reason she would be here this late.

"He's in the loft."

Lois smiled at them before disappearing out the front door.

Chloe watched her until she was gone, and sighed, heavily. "Well, that didn't take very long."

Martha immediately noticed the expression that was plastered across her face, and the way her eyes seemed to keep gravitating back towards the front door like she was expecting her cousin to come back right away.

It was quite obvious that something was going on with her, but she couldn't place what it was.

"Chloe? Honey? What's wrong?"

Here goes nothing, she thought to herself, there was a small part of herself that knew it was wrong of her to question them, but the other part of herself wanted—needed to know what was going on with them, and she needed to know right now or else her heart just might break even more from the not knowing.

"I really hate to ask this, but um, I've noticed that my cousin keeps finding excuses to come out here. I'm not saying I mind, but it's just a little odd. She barely knows any of you. Is it because she likes spending time with the two of you as much as I do? Or is it because of Clark?"

Now her gloom attitude made complete sense, Jonathan thought to himself before taking a few steps towards her.

"Yes, Chloe. Your cousin has been spending a little time with our son."

Martha wanted to slap her husband upside the head for being so forward with his answer. At first, she didn't really know what was going on with the spunky blonde, but now it made complete sense. She had feelings for her son, but of course her husband didn't think of that before opening his mouth, and even though he didn't really say anything too revealing, it was obvious that she was hurting.

How did her son manage to get himself into such a predicament?

Not only was he confused about his feelings for both Lana and Lois, but now he had another woman, who clearly had feelings for him.

"What my dear husband is trying to say is that Lois has been here a few times, but I don't think it's anything that should worry you."

"Why would I be worried? I was just curious," she told her, attempting to hide the truth that was clearly apparent in her eyes, in her voice, and in the way she moved her body.

Martha gave her that all too familiar look that cause every single person to crumble in a matter of seconds. "I wasn't born yesterday, Chloe. I know. It's okay. You can say it out loud."

Jonathan frowned over at his wife. "Say what out loud?"

She quickly rose her hand in the air, effectively stopping him from saying another word. "You have feelings for my son, don't you?"

Jonathan' eyes widened, slightly from that, and he didn't want to believe it since she hadn't mentioned anything or even showed the slightest of romantic interest in his son, but the look on her face told him that his wife was right.

Chloe had feelings for his son.

How the hell did his son get himself into such a complicated situation?

Chloe sighed, heavily, knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep this to herself any longer, especially with the way Martha and Jonathan were looking at her. "Yes, but um, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to know—"

"You want to know if something is happening between Clark and Lois," she finished her sentence, as she took a few steps towards her before continuing, "I'm not going to lie to you, Chloe. I don't know what is going on between them, but it's obvious that they have feelings for each other. I know that might be hard to hear, but you shouldn't worry too much. They don't even realize it's happening."

Except that they did, she thought to herself, she had noticed the way they look at each other, and she also noticed the way her cousin attempts to hide her feelings every single time she questioned her.

They might not have seen each other in a few years, but she still knew her cousin better than anyone, and the only time she attempted hiding something when it came to men was when she had feelings for them. She didn't know how her best friend felt since he was a little more complicated to read, but the way her cousin felt was as clear as day.

It hurt more than anything knowing that she had been right—knowing that something was going on between them, and she wished that this wasn't happening right now, but even though she has always daydreamed of the day that her best friend would see her as more than a friend, she wasn't going to allow her jealousy to get in the way of something that could possibly be the best thing that ever happened to them.

But…

She also wasn't going to allow them to lie to her either.

"Yes, they do. They might not fully understand what is going on between them, but deep inside they know that they have feelings for each other."

Martha and Jonathan could tell that this was hurting her in more ways than one, and they wanted to console her—they wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but they couldn't lie to her. They loved her to death, but deep inside they knew that their son would never feel that way about her.

Jonathan took a few steps towards her, and smiled, reassuringly at her, hoping that it would help her through this difficult time. "They might have feelings for each other, Chloe, but I don't think it's going to amount to anything. She will probably only be here for a few more days at most."

Chloe shook her head from side to side, as realization dawned on her. "Now I understand why she was so upset earlier tonight."

Martha frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Earlier, Lois made it perfectly clear that she wanted to stay. At first, I just thought it was because she was experiencing what it felt like to have a home since she hasn't experienced that in a very long time, and that might be part of it, but now I know it's because of Clark. She wants to stay because of him."

Martha and Jonathan shared an equally surprised expression with each other, not only because that was the last thing they were expecting her to say, but also because they didn't think that would even be possible, and even though they knew that this was hurting the young woman in front of them, they also couldn't help hoping—wishing that this would become a real possibility.

They already liked the woman, and they were more than a little happy at hearing that she might stick around, not only for them, but also for their son, who has been captivated by her from the moment they met.

Maybe this would give them the time to figure out what was really going on between them.

"Could that even be possible?"

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but when my cousin sets her mind on something, she makes sure that it happens."

Martha eyed her, curiously. "I know we would love it if she stayed, and I'm pretty sure Clark would as well, but what about you? Do you want her to stay?"

She stared at her like she had completely lost her mind. "Of course, I want her to stay. I might dislike this entire situation, but I love my cousin, and her wellbeing is way more important than my own feelings."

They just smiled at her.

This was going to be very, very difficult for her, especially if her cousin ended up staying, but they had faith that everything would work out the way it was supposed to.

This was only just the beginning.

* * *

Clark was sitting inside of his loft directly next to the open window, his eyes staring out across the darkened cornfields, as his mind was consumed with all of the many problems he was dealing with, but mainly, he was thinking about her—about Lois.

Everything he was feeling for that one woman was so confusing.

When he first met her, he thought that she was very beautiful, and he still thought that, but he didn't think he would get the chance to truly get to know the woman, who confused, surprised and intrigued him all at the same time.

And now he was getting that chance.

He would be lying to himself if he admitted that he wasn't attracted to her because he was, but deep inside he knew that it could never amount to anything.

She would be leaving.

He could visit her, he tried rationalizing with himself, he could go and see her whenever he wanted—whenever she wanted, but would she want him to?

Probably not, he thought to himself, she had already made it perfectly clear that she didn't want him using his abilities for simple tasks, but it wasn't just that.

He didn't even know how she felt, hell, he didn't even know what he was feeling, but he did know one thing for an absolute fact…when she left he was going to miss her.

"What could you possibly be thinking about that is making you look so forlorn?"

Speak of the devil, more like angel, he thought to himself before he slowly turned around towards the sound of her voice, and smiled, softly, as she moved closer to him.

"Lois, what are you doing here?"

Lois smiled right back at him. "I need to talk to you about something, and let me tell you it was difficult trying to convince Chloe to come here."

He frowned, as he slowly stood up, and took a few steps closer to her. "Why would it be difficult to convince Chloe to come here? I'll have you know she loves coming out to the farm."

Because she has feelings for you, she thought to herself before quickly pushing that thought aside, not wanting to think about the very complicated situation she was currently in.

"It wasn't because she didn't want to come out here. It was because she didn't want me coming out here. She doesn't understand why I keep finding myself on this farm of yours. After you dropped me off at the house, I have to convince her that she had nothing to worry about." At the frown she was receiving from him, she continued, "Chloe thinks something is going on between us."

Wasn't there? He questioned himself, but there was no way in hell he was going to say those words to her.

Not only because he didn't even have an answer to that question, but also because there would be no point in discussing something that would turn into nothing.

She would be leaving.

All they could be was friends.

"Why would she think that?"

"Maybe because we keep spending time together."

"But that's only because of everything that is going on right now."

Was that all this was? Was he only spending time with her because of the man, who had witnessed his abilities? Was that the only reason he spent time with her?

She didn't know, and she wasn't sure she wanted the answers to those questions. It would either break her heart or confuse her even more, and she really didn't need anymore complications in her life, besides its not like she would be here long enough to get the answers to those questions.

As soon as he had uttered the words, he regretted them, not only because it wasn't what he meant, but also because he could tell that his words had hurt her in one way or another, and he needed—wanted her to know what he actually meant. "I'm sorry, Lois. That's not what I meant. Of course, we would still be spending time together if none of this was happening. I just meant that we are together more often then not because of the situation we're in."

She smiled, softly at him, loving the fact that he didn't want her to question their friendship or their fast growing relationship. "But Chloe doesn't know that. You know, this would be so much easier to explain if she just knew the truth."

"I'm not telling her," he told her with complete and utter adamance.

"I know. I guess I'll just have to keep telling her the same thing I've been telling her."

"And what have you been telling her?"

"That we're just friends." She searched for something—anything that would tell her differently, and she swore she had seen a glimmer of disappointment in those aquamarine orbs of his, but it was gone before she could tell if was actually there or not.

"Yeah. We're just friends."

Honestly, he didn't know why that word struck a cord with him, but he wasn't going to question it any further. It was only making this complicated situation even worse, and he only wanted happy memories with her while she was here.

Not confusing ones.

"So, um, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"That rogue cop. Phelan I think is his name showed up when I was out with Chloe tonight, and—"

"He what?" He interrupted her, as he moved even closer to her, his eyes roaming over every inch of her body like he was expecting to find some kind of injury. "Did he hurt you? What about Chloe? Did he say something in front of her? What did he say to you?"

Lois smiled, softly at his overprotective nature. "No, Clark. He didn't touch me, and Chloe wasn't with me when he showed up. She was inside of the Beanery, but um, he did make it clear that we were going to help him whether we wanted to or not. I think I know what we can do about him-about this situation."

"What's your plan?"

She was seconds away from responding to him, but was stopped from even opening her mouth when she heard a familiar voice echoing from directly behind her—a voice she didn't really want to hear right now.

"Well, isn't this surprising."

Lois slowly turned around to face him. "Lex."

Clark took a few steps closer to him, surprise evident in his eyes from seeing him right now. "What are you doing here, Lex?"

"I can't stop by to see my friend?" He glanced over at the woman that just kept popping up when he least expected it. "You know, this is the third time I've seen you within two days. First it was at the museum last night. Then it was at the Beanery earlier today, and now here of all places, but I can say that I'm quite surprised to see you here with Clark."

Of course, he had already figured out that they knew each other from the conversation he overheard between both Chloe and Lois, and he had been interested in learning how his friend was dealing with another woman in his life, but now—now he was more interested in discovering what they were doing together.

"I'm going to take a guess and say that you two met at the Museum last night."

"You would be right about that," Lois said, coolly.

Lex frowned at the tone of voice she was using with him, but didn't ponder on it for too long. "Well, I think you found a good friend in Clark."

Clark smiled at him, and even though his parents and the woman standing next to him had warned him to be careful around him, especially where his abilities were concerned, he couldn't help feeling a little happy at seeing his friend. "You never answered my question, Lex. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about last night."

Lois noticed the way he was looking at her like he wanted her to leave, so he could speak to Clark alone, and even though she wanted to know the real reason he was here, she didn't want to start any type of conflict with the man. She might not like him very much, but she wasn't going to make an enemy out of him.

At least not until he was proven guilty.

"Um, I think I should get going. This sounds like a conversation that isn't for my ears."

Clark allowed her to take a few steps away from him before he grabbed her hand, effectively pulling her back over to his side, and squeezed her hand, reassuringly, wanting her to know that he wanted her to stay, besides they still had some things to discuss. "Anything you have to say you can say it in front of Lois."

Lois smiled, inwardly at his little show of affection before squeezing his hand back, and there was a small part of herself that knew she should let go of him, but the other part of herself was enjoying the feeling that encompassed her from just his touch.

Lex rose his brows at the way his friend was behaving with the beautiful young woman. It was apparent that something was going on there, but whether it was just friendship or romance was unknown to him.

What happened with Lana? Did he still have feelings for her? Or did all that change when he met the fiery woman standing next to him?

It wouldn't be surprising, he thought to himself, she was quite a beautiful young woman.

"Okay then. First of all, I want to thank both of you for coming to the Museum last night, even though you both left pretty early, but I have to say that I'm surprised you're already involved in a police investigation on your first visit to Metropolis I might add. That has to be some kind of record."

Clark frowned at him. "How do you know about that?"

"The detective in charge came to me first."

"What did he tell you?"

"Nothing much, but maybe that's what's bothering me."

It was apparently clear why he was here, Lois thought to herself, he was fishing for information, but she would play along for the time being.

"What do you mean?"

"Metropolis police don't usually send detectives to investigate traffic accidents, so I made a call. It turns out that the official investigation is already closed." He locked his eyes onto his friend. "Clark, you really don't want Sam Phelan in your life."

He rose a brow at him. "You know him?"

He nodded. "Unfortunately, I've had my share of legal problems when I was living in Metropolis."

In a way, that should have surprised him, but it didn't. Not only because he already knew that his friend wasn't the saint he painted himself to be, but also because he had taken the many warnings he has received from his parents, Pete, Chloe and now Lois seriously.

But…

That didn't mean he was going to turn his back on him.

At least not until he was proven guilty.

If he was guilty.

"Were they serious?"

"Not serious, but expensive. Phelan was the kind of officer my father felt we could turn to for help."

Lois gave him a questioning look. "Are you saying that he's a dirty cop?"

"I'm saying that he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. That means planting evidence and falsifying reports. Anything is fair game, and if he's got something on either of you, he'll use it."

"He just wanted to talk."

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

As soon as he disappeared down the loft stairs, Lois turned around towards him with a knowing expression plastered across her face. "I know that you think very highly of Lex, and I know that he is your friend, but please tell me that you realize what all of that was about."

Clark nodded. "He was fishing for information, but you have nothing to worry about. He isn't going to find out anything that we don't want him finding out."

"Just promise me that you'll be careful around him. I might be here to help you see reason when it comes to that man, but I won't be here forever, and I just want you to watch your back, especially where that man is concerned."

"I promise, Lois," he told her with a soft smile, as he squeezed her hand.

Lois glanced down at their intertwined hands, and even though she knew she should let go them—let go of him, she didn't want to. "Good cause I'd hate it if something happened to you."

"Nothing is going to happen to me." He stared at her for a few lingering seconds before their earlier conversation came back to the forefront of his mind. "So, you said that you had a plan? What is it?"

"Well, your father made it clear that he wanted to try to stop Phelan from doing anything tomorrow, and I'm not saying that I don't have faith in him, but if his plan doesn't work I'm going to call that friend I told you about. Even if it means that my father figures out I'm here."

His heart dropped down to his stomach from her words. He didn't want her to leave earlier than she wanted, actually, he didn't want her to leave at all, but its not like he could stop that from happening.

But…

He would be damned if he allowed her to do something that would take her away from him sooner than she wanted—than he wanted.

"You can't do that, Lois."

She rolled her eyes at him before huffing out, irritatingly, "Why does everyone keep saying that to me?"

He smiled, softly at her. "Because none of us want you to leave earlier than necessary."

There was a part of herself that understood all of their reasons for wanting her to not involve anyone else in this situation, but the other part of herself knew that if she didn't do something this situation was only going to get even worse than it already was, and there was no way she was just going to sit back and watch his life come crumbling down around him.

She cared about him too much to allow that to happen.

"I understand that, but this might be the only way."

He tightened his hold around her hands. "Lois, please. I want you to promise me that your not going to do something that will force you to leave."

Lois stared at him with questioning eyes, and even though she already knew the answer to her question, she wanted to hear him say it—she needed to hear him say it. "You don't want me to leave, do you?"

His eyes never left hers. "No, Lois. I don't want you to leave."

She smiled, softly at him before sighing, heavily. "I don't want to leave either, but we both know that it's going to happen sooner rather than later. I can't promise that I won't do what's necessary to protect you, and to protect your family, but I can try to go along with this plan of your father's."

"I guess that's the best I can get out of you, huh?"

A soft smile graced her lips, as she nodded at him before she slowly released his hands, and took a few steps back from him. "I should, um, I should probably get going before uncle Gabe grounds both Chloe and I for being late to dinner."

Clark chuckled, softly at that, even though he was feeling more than just a little disheartened at the fact that he wasn't holding her hands anymore—touching her anymore. "Can he actually do that? You know, since you don't actually live there."

"I might just be visiting, but in his eyes I'm still susceptible to punishment if needed. I can say that being grounded by my uncle is better than being put on lockdown at the base by my father."

He just smiled at her before slowly leaning forward, and pressing his lips against her cheek, softly, lingering there a little longer than necessary, but he just couldn't help himself.

Lois stood there paralyzed for a few seconds, not really sure what he was intending on doing until she felt his lips brushing across her cheek, and softly closed her eyes from the sensation.

It was blissful.

She knew that she shouldn't feel like that, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling all the things he made her feel just by looking at her—smiling at her—touching her.

When he pulled away from her, she slowly opened her eyes, and gave him a questioning look. "What was that for?"

"For being such a great friend."

_Friend. _

That word struck a cord with her, of course they had told each other that so many times in the short time they've known each other, but for some reason it felt wrong—It felt like they were physically and emotionally pulling themselves away from anything more than just that. She wanted to be his friend, hell, they were friends, but she would be lying if she told herself that she didn't want more with him because she did.

She wanted so, so much more with him.

It was irrational.

It wasn't normal.

They had literally just met last night. She couldn't be having these types of feelings towards him only after knowing him for one day, but she couldn't deny what she was feeling anymore. She liked him, and that was very problematic.

Even if she wanted to, there was nothing she could do about their situation, but she did know one thing for an absolute fact…she was going to miss him when she left.

"Goodnight, Clark."

"Goodnight, Lois."

She slowly made her way towards the farmhouse with a heavy heart, and when she walked back inside, she overheard something she never expected to hear—something she shouldn't have heard—something that broke her heart.

"I know that things are kind of up in the air right now, but if she does stay, and if they do decide to start something I wont get in the way of that even though it's going to hurt…a lot."

It did more than just break her heart.

One on hand, her cousin was willing to let the man she has had a crush on for years go just because of her, and on the other, she was never going to find out if they could ever be something more. She would be leaving unless they found a way to convince her father to allow her to stay, but she highly doubted that that was going to happen.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Chloe quickly spun around at the sound of her voice, and hoped against all hope that she didn't hear any part of their conversation. "No. Not at all. Did you and Clark figure everything out?"

She just nodded.

Martha smiled at her. "Chloe here was just telling us all about your day together."

"It seems like your enjoying your time here," Jonathan added.

"I am, but um, we should probably get going or else uncle Gabe is going to ground us both."

As soon as they disappeared out the front door, Jonathan turned towards his beautiful wife. "Do you think she heard Chloe?"

Martha nodded. "I know for a fact that she did, but she won't say anything to her. It's like Chloe said. Everything is still unknown right now, but I do hope that she sticks around."

"Because you want them together?"

She shook her head from side to side. "I want our son to have someone like her in his life."

"But you do want them together," he stated once again with a soft smile gracing his lips.

"I guess that I do. You've seen the way they look at each other and the way they tease each other, but nothing is going to happen unless she stays, and I hope she does. Not only for our son, but for Chloe. She really needs her cousin in her life."

"You and me both," he told her before wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and pulling her up the stairs with him.

They both wanted her to stay, but they couldn't even try to guess what was going to happen until that father of hers showed up.

It was inevitable.

Would he allow her to stay?

They didn't know, but they hoped he did. Not only because of their son or the woman they loved dearly, but also because they were already attached to the young woman, and they wanted her to stay in every single one of their lives.

Hopefully, every single one of them got what they wanted.

* * *

Lois, Chloe and Gabe were sitting down at the kitchen table, just enjoying a nice family dinner together and enjoying the fact that the three of them could be with each other right now, but every single one of their minds were consumed with thoughts—thoughts that wouldn't leave their minds.

Gabe was completely and utterly happy, as he sat across from his daughter and niece.

It was a once in a lifetime experience.

When they were children, they used to do this all of the time, mainly because Ella, his sister had made sure that their daughters spent some quality time together, but after she passed away, Sam Lane had made sure that his daughters stayed pretty close to him, which meant that they rarely ever saw each other. It had definitely put a strain on their relationship, but even so, he was glad that they were all here together just like they were years ago.

Chloe had tried her hardest not to think about her heart that was very slowly breaking, but it was nearly impossible when one of the reasons for her heartbreak was sitting next to her. She would never blame her for having feelings for her best friend. That was something that couldn't be controlled. It just happened.

But…

No matter what happened, she wasn't going to allow her jealousy to ruin their friendship or possible romantic relationship.

Lois slowly picked at the food on her plate with her fork. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, or that she wasn't enjoying this family moment, but it was the fact that too many things were racing through her mind. There was a part of herself that knew she should be focusing more on her family, but she just couldn't, and it was all because of him—because of Clark.

When she made the decision to disobey her father' orders to visit her cousin, she never in a million years thought that she would meet someone like him, but she did, and she didn't know what to do with her feelings or thoughts. She wanted to stay, not only because she wanted to find out what these feelings meant, but also because she wanted to live a normal life with her cousin and uncle.

Would her father let her stay?

Chloe glanced over at her cousin, immediately noticing that she was quieter than normal, actually, she seemed to be sulking, which only remined her of how her best friend would do the same thing when he was lost deep in his thoughts. "Lois? Are you okay?"

Lois quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts, and smiled at her, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do right now. "I'm fine, Chloe."

"No, you're not. You've been acting weird ever since we left the farm. What is going on with you? Is it Clark? Did he say something to upset you?"

She frowned over at her. "No, this has nothing to do with Clark."

It was a lie, she thought to herself, this had a lot to do with him, but its not like she could tell her cousin that.

"What is it then?"

"It's nothing."

Gabe frowned over at his niece, immediately realizing that something was going on with her, and he didn't like the fact that she was upset. This was supposed to be a happy family moment, but something was stopping her from enjoying this.

What could it possibly be?

"Lois, you might be able to fool your cousin, but you can't fool me. I've known you since you were in diapers, so you better stop this charade and tell me what is going on with you."

Lois gulped, silently at the tone was using with her.

He meant business, and she knew it, but how could she explain this to him?

Her uncle would probably just refuse, knowing that her father would never allow it to happen, hell, he was risking everything just by not telling him that she was here. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to stay, but her cousin would automatically assume that this was about her growing friendship with Clark.

It was part of it, she thought to herself, but if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to go back to her old life after experiencing so many different things—things she had never experienced in her entire life.

Gabe grew even more serious with her when she remained silent. "Fess up, young lady."

She sighed in defeat, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. "I want to stay."

Chloe smiled, softly at her, even though she knew the real reason she wanted to stay. "I already told you that we would try to convince your father to let you stay."

"Simply asking him isn't going to cut it. I need help convincing him. He might love you Chloe, but I think we need a little more help."

Gabe glanced between the two of them with a confused expression before his eyes landed on his niece. "You want to stay? As in you want to live here in Smallville with me and Chloe?"

She nodded, nervously, not really sure how he was going to react to that.

He shook his head from side to side. "Lois, you know how much I love you, and you know that I've enjoyed having you here with us, but your father isn't going to allow that to happen."

"Not if we ask, but maybe if you say something to him he'll think about it."

"He won't listen to me. He's never listened to me."

Lois stared at him, pleadingly. "Please? Can you at least try?"

"It would mean a lot to the both of us," Chloe added for good measure.

Gabe glanced between the two of them before sighing in defeat. "Fine, but I'm not making any promises."

Lois smiled at him.

It wasn't a for sure thing, hell, her father would probably still refuse, but she was adamant on staying here, even if that meant she had to get a few other people to make him see reason. She hated her life, but even though she wasn't the biggest fans of small-towns, actually, she despised them, she wanted to stay here, and she was determined to get what she wanted.

Hopefully, it would be a possibility.

* * *

The next day, Jonathan slowly made his way inside of the Beanery, where the cop that was making all of their lives hell was most likely waiting for either his son or both him and Lois, but there was no way in hell he was allowing either of them to come near him.

This morning, his lovely wife had managed to calm down all the nerves he had been feeling before he left the farmhouse, but now that he was here—now that he was looking at the man, he could feel that anger slowly brewing inside of him.

Stay calm, he reminded himself, not wanting to make matters even worse for his family.

Sam Phelan glanced up from his steaming cup of coffee to find none other than Jonathan Kent walking towards him, and quickly placed his cup of the table before standing up to greet him. "Mr. Kent. Sam Phelan, Metropolis Police Department. I figured that you'd be the one to show."

"What do you want with my son?"

"We're both rational adults, so how about we sit down and—"

"I don't think a rational adult drops a generator on top of a teenage boy," he interrupted him before staring at him, expectantly. "Do you?"

"Well, we both know that it wouldn't hurt him," he told him before motioning for him to sit down.

After much contemplation, Jonathan sat down across from him. "All right. What do you want?"

"I just want Clark' help."

"With what?"

"Look around you, Mr. Kent. Do you know what I see? The veneer of safety. People like me are sworn to protect that. I'm the guy standing between the criminals and the respectable citizens like yourself. Now, Clark has a…" he trailed off, as he attempted finding the right word. "Has a gift, and I would like to use his talents to further my cause."

Jonathan felt the anger building up inside of him, but quickly pushed it down. "I will not let you exploit my son."

"You know, I've spent the morning going through the local police files, and Clark' name comes up quite a bit."

"Clark has never been in trouble a single day in his life."

"No arrests, but he's been around a lot of crime scenes. Now maybe that's just a coincidence or maybe it's just his natural instinct to get involved."

Jonathan sighed, heavily at the man, knowing that he had to do something to ensure that his son—that his family was safe. "Okay. I'll give you whatever you want, but you need to stay the hell away from my family."

"But I want your son."

"No, that's never going to happen."

"I'll be in touch, Mr. Kent." He slowly stood up and leaned close to his ear. "Of course, if you don't agree I will tell the world what I know. Best case, Clark' under a microscope. Worst case, he's a freak in a jar. Either way his normal life is over."

Jonathan took several deep breaths, attempting to calm his temper, but his next words completely set him off.

"If that still doesn't make you want to agree then I wouldn't have a problem involving that little girlfriend of his. I wonder what he would do if something happened to her?"

He saw red before he grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt, and slammed him down onto the table. "Don't you dare push me you son of a bitch!"

Lois, who wanted a cup of coffee before heading to the school, walked into the Beanery just in time to find Jonathan slamming Phelan down onto the table, and quickly ran over to her before wrapping her hands around his arm, attempting to pull him away from him. "Jonathan! Let him go!"

Jonathan quickly released him at the sound of her voice, and took several steps back away from him, but made sure that the woman he already cared deeply for was behind him, his threat still ringing in his ears.

Phelan slowly pushed himself off the table, and glanced around at all the people staring at them, curiously before he smiled a smug smile. "Woah. Easy there, Mr. Kent. We were just talking. You know, if I were you, I'd learn to keep that temper in check. That could get you into a lot of trouble."

Lois glared, heatedly at him. "You're a bastard, you know that?"

"How lovely it is to see you here. We were just talking about you, weren't we?"

Jonathan glared at him. "Stay the hell away from my family!"

"I'll be seeing you around." He started to make his way towards the exit, but stopped, and turned back around towards them. "And Lois, tell that boyfriend of yours that I'd like to have a few words with him."

And with that he walked away with a smug smirk plastered across his face.

Lois completely ignored his words before turning towards Jonathan, who was still reeling from their conversation. "I thought you were going to talk to him. Not start a fight with the guy."

"I don't take kindly to people threatening my family. What are you doing here anyways? I thought I told you I would handle this."

"I wasn't here for him. I was going to get a cup of coffee before heading to the school. Good thing too, or you might have went a little too far. I understand that you're trying to help, but the last thing we need is you being thrown in jail for assaulting a police officer."

He smiled, softly at her, knowing that she was just trying to protect him just like he was trying to protect her. "Come on, I'll take you to the school."

As they were driving down the narrow streets, Lois glanced over at him, immediately noticing that he was still feeling very angry over what had just happened, and even though she had a feeling that he wasn't going to tell her anything, she wanted to know what would make him do something so irrational. "So, what did Phelan say to you?"

His eyes never left the road. "He threatened both you and Clark."

That wasn't all that surprising, she thought to herself, he had done it the day before, so it would make the most sense that he would do it again, but she highly doubted that he would do anything to her.

He wanted Clark.

Not her.

Even if he did do something to her, she could easily take care of herself. She might not have abilities, but she was more skilled than your average human being, and that was all thanks to her father.

"It seems that Clark gets his overprotective nature from you," she told him, attempting to lighten the darkened mood.

He just smiled at her.

"You know since Phelan seems adamant about making all of our lives hell I could call that friend of mine—"

"No, Lois," he interrupted her. "I don't want anyone else involved in this."

"But—"

"I said no, Lois," he interrupted her again before glancing over at her. "I know you want to help, but I want you and Clark to stay out of this, and I want both of you to stay as far away from that man as possible."

She stared at him with an inquisitive gaze. "Why don't you want my help? Is it because you don't think I can? Or is it because you're just as stubborn as your son?"

Jonathan chuckled, softly at that. "I can be quite stubborn, and so can Clark, but the reason I don't want you involved is because I don't want you to be forced to leave sooner than you want to."

A soft smile graced her lips from the familiar words. "You sound just like Clark."

"Well, you should listen to him. That son of mine can be very wise when he wants to be."

Lois just smiled at him before glancing out the truck window. Even though they still had absolutely no idea what they were going to do about Phelan or this situation they were in, it was nice knowing that so many people cared about her.

It only made her want to stay even more.

And that's exactly what she intended on doing.

_**Again, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. I've been in the process of rewriting another story, and had to put this one on the backpedal for the time being, but alas I never just leave a story unfinished. **_

_**Clark and Lois are definitely growing closer, and they are very confused about what they are feeling, but that won't last very long. As for Chloe, I don't want her to be a problem for Clark and Lois, which is why I'm writing her the way I am. Hopefully, she isn't acting too out of character. **_

_**I'm thinking of turning some of the future stories to this series into a higher rating. It would only be a few chapters, but I want your thoughts on that. I don't want it to degrade from the story, but it would also make sense for those particular scenes. So, would any of you like some smut chapters or to keep it PG-13? **_

_**Also, I hope everyone is being safe out there during this very difficult time. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter seven **_


	9. Chapter Eight

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Eight: **_

Clark was sitting down at the desk inside of the Torch, beginning to grow more and more frustrated, as he attempted figuring out what he was supposed to do since his best friend was still fired, actually, they haven't heard anything from Lana regarding how she was going to convince Principal Kwan to give her her job back, but honestly, his mind has been focused on more important things lately like his confusing feelings for one feisty brunette, and the little issue they were experiencing with Phelan, which only seemed to be getting worse and worse.

He quickly shook his thoughts away, as he attempted printing out the latest issue, but it started making weird screeching noises, which only added to his frustration before he started banging his fists on it like that would make it work. "You've got to be kidding me."

Lois, who had been leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest for the past few minutes, grinned, widely at him, feeling quite amused by his failed attempts before walking further into the room with a smirk slowly spreading out across her face. "And the printer wins this quarrel."

Clark looked up when her heard the sound of her voice before a wide smile graced his lips from the sight of her just like he always did when he laid his eyes on her. "Lois, what are you doing here?"

She moved further into the room. "I'm watching an inanimate object beating you at one of the simplest tasks known to man."

He rolled his eyes at her before a slow growing smirk spread out across his face. "You know, for someone who claims to hate schools, especially small-town ones so much, you are here quite a lot."

"Well, I have to keep up pretenses or Principal Kwan might figure out that my father didn't really send me here, but if you must know, I enjoy annoying you more than anything, and what better place to do that than here."

"Of course, that would be your reason." He smiled, softly at her, loving the way she teased him before glancing down at the printer. "But maybe instead of annoying me, you could help me with this piece of crap printer."

Lois slowly made her way over to the printer, pushed a few buttons, resetting the device, and printed out what he needed before glancing over at him with a smirk plastered across her face from the bewildered look he was giving her. "Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Well, actually, I didn't really have time to edit this last night, and it has to be submitted today—"

"Say no more, farm boy," she interrupted him before taking a seat next to him, and started reading through the article, as she took a red pen, marking up all the things that needed to be fixed.

Honestly, she wasn't really into the whole writing or investigating scene like her cousin, but if she was being honest with herself, she was pretty good at both of those things, and even though she didn't really understand anything she was feeling or experiencing for the first time, she did know that she was enjoying doing this with him.

Maybe one day they would do this together on a daily basis, she thought to herself before quickly pushing that thought aside as soon as it entered her mind.

She didn't know what she wanted to do, and it was quite obvious that he didn't either, but just because she enjoyed spending time with him that didn't mean she was going to start thinking about things they could do together in the future. Nothing was set in stone yet, but hopefully, she would get the chance to spend even more time with him after this mess they were in was over.

"All done." She handed over the paper to him. "Just fix those few things, and you'll be god to go. It's not up to my dear cousin's standards, but it'll have to do until she can get her job back."

Clark glanced down at the paper for a few seconds before looking over at her with a shocked and surprised expression lingering on his face. "How are you so good at all of this?"

"Well, I usually have to do most if not all of my father's paperwork, especially when he's too busy to do it on his own, so I guess I've just mastered the skill over the years."

He shook his head from side to side, as a frown etched onto his features. It wasn't the first time she had told him that her father made her do something she didn't want to do, but it was different this time for some reason. When she had told him that the first night they met, he hadn't liked it, but now—now it was like he hated the fact that her father only came to her when she was useful to him.

It was just wrong.

"I'm sorry, Lois. I'm sorry that he makes you do things that he's supposed to be doing, and I hate that you're going to have to go back to that sooner or later."

Lois turned towards him with a soft smile gracing her lips, loving how sweet and caring he could be, and even though she still didn't know anything for sure, she wanted—needed him to know this. "I don't plan on going back."

His brows rose at that. "What do you mean you don't plan on going back?"

"I mean, that I don't want to leave this small-town, my cousin, your parents or even you…" she trailed off, as she locked her hazel eyes onto his aquamarine ones. "I want to stay."

A wide smile graced his lips from this words, not only from the fact that she had revealed that she didn't want to leave him, but also from the fact that she was intending on staying, and even though it was quite possible that she could still leave, he couldn't help feeling excited from the mere possibility of spending more time with her—of seeing her every single day—of getting to know her even more.

But…

Honestly, it would give him the chance to figure out what he was feeling for her, and that was something he wanted to figure out more than anything.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I hope that you stay."

She smiled right back at him. "I hope that I stay too."

As they continued smiling, widely at each other, their eyes locked onto each other, and they instantly got lost in each other just like they've done a few times since they first met, while their minds thought of nothing other than what could possibly happen if she did stay.

Would they remain friends? Would they become something more? Would it be the best thing that ever happened to them?

Lois quickly blinked, repeatedly, as soon as all those questions entered her mind, and moved away from him, slightly, not understanding why he kept pulling all these emotions—all these feelings out of her, but instead of attempting to figure out what was happening between them, she focused on something a little safer. "So, um, I didn't just come here to keep up pretenses with Principal Kwan. I also came to tell you what happened at the Beanery with your father and Phelan…"

His smile fell from his lips, and all thoughts of her evaporated from his mind, as worry and concern encompassed every single part of his being. "What happened?"

"Long story short, Phelan threatened your father, and he attacked him. Luckily, I was there to break things up before it could turn into a full blown brawl, but um, we need to do something, and we need to do something now. You know, I could—"

"You're not involving your friend, Lois," he interrupted her.

She rolled her eyes at him before huffing out, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"We investigate him," he told her with a soft smile gracing his lips.

A smirk spread out across her face. "Are you sure you can handle working side by side with me?"

He smirked right back at her. "I can handle anything you give me, but the real question you should be asking is if you can deal with working with the man you love annoying?"

"I couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else."

Clark gulped, silently from her words. It was one thing to tease each other, but it was something else entirely to flirt with each other, which is exactly what they were doing, and it honestly felt like he couldn't breathe from the way she was looking at him.

It was like she was looking straight through his soul.

Out of their own accord, his eyes glanced down to her lips, and there was a small part of himself that wanted to swoop down and take her lips with his, but the other part of himself knew that he couldn't do that. He didn't even understand what he was feeling, and he definitely didn't know what she wanted, but even if he did know all the answers to the questions that rattled in his mind every single time he was with her, it wasn't the right time or right place.

Would it ever be? He questioned himself before pushing his tantalizing thoughts to the deepest part of himself, and focused on the task at hand…finding something on this rogue cop.

"Um, we should probably try to find something on him."

Lois nodded before moving a little closer to the computer, and started typing some commands into the keyboard, attempting to push down everything she was feeling right now. "And I think I know where we should start."

As they were viewing article headlines on the computer reading, 'Assault Charges Dropped Against Cop' and 'Excessive Force Alleged', Chloe and Pete walked inside of the Torch office, neither of them all that surprised that their friends were together.

Chloe sighed, softly, as she glanced between the two of them, and deep inside she should have known that they would be together, hell, they were always together, but even though she had vowed that she wouldn't stop of fight whatever was happening between them, she couldn't help feeling a little hurt over the fact that they spent so much time together.

Pete, on the other hand, just grinned, widely at them, as he watched them work side by side together. There was definitely something going on between the two of them, and it was even more apparent than it was the last time he saw them in the same room together. They had been teasing and flirting with each other, but now they were sitting pretty close together, as they worked on something together, and honestly, he couldn't wait to see how this friendship of theirs blossomed.

It was only going to be a matter of time before things changed between them, he thought to himself.

"Hey, Clark, Lois, what are you guys doing?"

Both of them glanced up at the sound of his voice, feeling completely surprised to see them standing in front of them, but figured that they should have known someone would walk in on them.

It was the school newspaper after all.

Clark quickly shut off the computer, not wanting either of them to know what they were actually doing before quickly standing up, and making his way over to his friends. "I was just trying to understand your notes for this week's article and—"

"And I was helping him cause this one doesn't know how to work a damn computer," Lois interrupted him.

He gave her a look. "I can work a computer perfectly fine."

"Oh really? So, I didn't walk in on you pounding on the printer just cause it wouldn't work for you, or should I say that you couldn't get it to work."

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

She grinned, widely a him. "Not in this lifetime."

He smirked over at her. "And what about the next?"

"Probably not even then."

Pete grinned even wider between the two of them, as they bickered back and forth, but if he was being honest with himself, it was quite amusing watching them tease each other. "She has a point, Clark. You've never been that good with any type of machine that isn't a tractor."

Clark looked at him with feigned hurt. "I thought you were supposed to be on my side?"

"Not when it involves the lovely Lois Lane. I'd rather not receive that Lane wrath I've been told so much about, so your on your own, Clark."

Lois grinned, widely at him before turning towards the man she loved teasing with a victorious grin. "I win."

He rolled his eyes at her. "This time, Lane, but I'll get you next time."

"Is that right?"

"That's a challenge your going to lose, Clark," Chloe informed him.

Clark turned his attention towards his best friend. "You too?"

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to take Lois' side on this one." She chuckled, softly at the expression slowly spreading out across his face before quickly changing the subject, not only because she really did come here for a specific reason, but also because she would rather not watch them flirt and tease each other any longer.

It was too painful.

"So, um, have you guys heard anything about Lana's meeting with Kwan?"

They were seconds away from responding to her when the woman in question walked into the room with a strained expression crossing over her feature. "Looks like I came just in time."

Chloe quickly turned around towards her with hope lingering in her big green eyes. "So, how did it go?"

"Well, it's interesting…"

"Bottom line it. When can we send out the next issue?"

"Day after tomorrow." When her friend grinned, widely, she felt guilt consume every single part of her, but she needed to know everything that happened in her meeting with Kwan, and she hoped against all hope that she wouldn't hate her for this. "Except, uh, um, Kwan made me the new editor…"

The smile fell from her face, as soon as those words slipped past her lips, and she could feel a mix of emotions consuming her, but quickly attempted calming down everything she was feeling until she fully understood what her friend was telling her. "Okay, uh, rewind. I need you to say that last part again."

Lana took a deep breath before breaking the news to her, "After I made my case, Kwan said if I had that much passion I should be in charge."

Chloe took a step back from her, as she allowed her words to sink in, and even though she had a feeling that her friend didn't do this on purpose, it didn't stop her from feeling the anger—the hurt from overtaking every single part of her being.

First she took away the chance of her best friend seeing her as more than a friend, even though it was quite obvious that nothing was going to happen between them since her cousin was in the picture, and now she was trying to take away her livelihood?

"I can't believe this!"

"Chloe, it's the only way he'd reopen the paper," she attempted calming her down.

Her emerald eyes glared at her. "So? What? Cheerleading isn't enough? Maybe the editor of the school newspaper looks better on a college application?"

"That isn't it. I just figured that you could ghost write until we got you reinstated."

"Okay, so then I would work for you?"

"The paper would still be yours."

Clark glanced between the two of them, knowing that he needed to do something before this turned even more intense than it already was, and stepped in between them, stopping them from saying another word before he uttered the first thing that came to his mind, "Wait. Wait, Chloe. Think about it. It's not a bad idea."

Her heated gaze turned to him before a hurt expression crossed over her features, as tears filled her eyes. "It figures you would side with her."

"I'm not taking anyone's side," he defended himself.

"Yeah right, Clark. You're completely objective in all things Lana."

A pained expression crossed over his features from her words, not only because he had only managed to upset her, but also because it wasn't the truth. Maybe it was a few days ago, but things were different now, and it was all because of her feisty, beautiful and strong-minded cousin.

But…

It's not like he could tell her that.

It would only upset her even more.

"I'm just gonna go…"

Chloe quickly rose her hands in the air, stopping him from taking a single step out of the room. "No, please, Clark, stay! Take my desk!"

"Chloe, this isn't what you think," Lana attempted calming down this situation.

"You know what the weirdest part is? For a millisecond I almost thought that you were my friend." She slowly glanced between the two of them with a pained expression lingering on her face before she rushed past every single one of them, wanting to be nowhere near her so called friends, as the tears she had been holding back streamed down her cheeks.

Lois, who had been eerily silent this entire time, stared at the spot her cousin had just been, feeling all kinds of different emotions encompass her before she turned towards the woman she barely even knew, and at first, she had believed that maybe she could become a good friend, but right now—right now she wanted nothing to do with her. "You know, when I first met you I thought you were a good person. I mean, I've heard so many things from Chloe, Pete and Clark, but it's quite obvious that you did this on purpose."

Lana took a step back from her. "I would never do this on purpose."

"Oh really? I find that hard to believe. You know, I might not know any of you very well, but I'm not naïve either. It's obvious that you have feelings for Clark, so did you do this just because you wanted to make sure that you could be with him? What about your boyfriend? Whitney?"

Lana was completely and utterly speechless from her brash words, not only because she was right about her having feelings for him, but also because she didn't know how to make this woman understand that she would never, ever so something like this to her friends, and even though she wanted to make her understand, she also highly doubted that she would listen to anything she told her, especially where her cousin was concerned.

"Lois, I think you need to calm down and—" His words came to an abrupt halt when her hazel eyes landed on him before glaring, heatedly at him, and he gulped, silently from the way she was staring at him, as he felt completely and utterly browbeaten by her.

It was something that has never happened to him in his entire life, but if there was a person that could make him feel terrified and intimidated at the same exact time it would be her.

This wasn't going to be good, he thought to himself.

"I should calm down?" She questioned him before laughing, but there was absolutely no humor laced in her voice. "I'm not the one who took my cousin's job, and I'm certainly not the one who took her side, even though you've known my cousin for years. You're her best friend, Clark. You're supposed to be the one she can count on when everything is going wrong in her life. Her entire livelihood just went to crap, and you didn't have her back."

Clark sighed, heavily, knowing that she was right, and even if he wanted to he couldn't take back his words, but he'd be damned if he allowed her to believe that he defended his friend just because he had feelings for her.

Maybe he did, but none of that mattered right now.

The only thing that mattered was fixing things between them.

He couldn't lose her before he even had her.

"Lois, I'm not taking sides. I'm just trying to help."

"Well, your doing a great job," she told him, sarcastically, as she turned around, and started walking away from them, but stopped dead in her tracks before glancing over her shoulder at him one last time. "Chloe was right. You really are objective in all things that involve her."

She quickly stormed out of there, feeling like her heart was going to break inside of her own chest from everything she was feeling right now, and it had everything to do with the man that wouldn't leave her mind.

Anger.

Bewilderment.

Confusion.

But most of all, she was feeling hurt from the way he had taken her side, instead of listening to them.

There was a part of herself that knew she shouldn't be feeling this hurt over one argument, especially since they've only known each other for a short amount of time, but the other part of herself couldn't help feeling this way since they had created an understanding—a bond—a friendship with each other, and even though she wanted nothing more than to go back into that room and make things up with him, she also knew that she needed to find her cousin.

It was the only thing that mattered right now.

Clark watched her walk away from him with a heavy heart, wanting nothing more than to fix this, not only because he hated it more than anything when she was upset with him, but also because he wanted—needed her know that the only person that could make him feel this heartbroken after one simple argument was her.

Not Lana.

Not Chloe.

Not any other woman.

It was her, and even though they barely knew each other, he had a feeling that it would always be her.

There was no one on this planet or universe that could make him feel, think and behave the way he did when she was around, and there was no way in hell he was going to allow her to believe that he would choose anyone above her.

He needed to fix this, and he needed to fix this now.

He quickly started making his way towards the door, but Lana jumped in front of him, stopping him from taking another step, causing him to frown down at her. "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you from making things worse."

"I can't lose them just over one fight."

Lana stared at him for the longest time with a questioning expression lingering on her face, as she wondered what was going through that head of his. It was one thing to want to make things up with his best friend, but Lois, the woman he barely even knows was a completely different story, and even though she didn't want to admit it to herself, she knew the truth, hell, it was practically staring her in the face.

They had feelings for each other.

"You mean, you don't want to lose her."

Clark frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You might think that none of us can see it, but we've all seen what is happening between the two of you from the moment we saw you two in the same room together. It's okay, Clark. You can say it. The only reason you want to go after them is so you can make up things with her-with Lois."

He took a staggering step back from her, not able to believe that she could see that after only spending a few minutes with them, but she was right. He wanted to make things up with her more than anything else.

"She's my friend, and I need her to understand—"

"And you need her to understand that you didn't defend me cause you have feelings for me," she interrupted him.

He nodded.

"Do you have feelings for her?"

Clark stared at her, unable to believe that was asking that question, especially after everything that was revealed in a matter of seconds, not only because his feelings was the last thing he wanted to discuss with her, but also because he really didn't think it was any of her business.

There was a part of himself that knew he still had feelings for her whether it was romantic or friendship he didn't know, but what he felt every single time he was in the same room with the feisty brunette was completely different—was something that he had never felt in his entire life, and there was no way in hell he was allowing whatever was happening between them to end after one single argument.

"I don't know what I'm feeling for her, but I do know that I can't lose our friendship."

She smiled, softly at him, knowing deep inside that he was feeling something for her, but it was quite obvious that he wasn't ready to admit that to anyone. "You know exactly what your feeling for her, Clark, but you're scared that she doesn't feel the same way. I can tell you that she feels the same way. She wasn't mad at you for upsetting Chloe. She was jealous because you defended me."

His eyes widened from that. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Call it women's intuition." She smiled at him, knowingly. "I promise that I'm going to fix this for Chloe, but you're the only one that can fix things with Lois, and I have a feeling that she'll forgive you."

As soon as she turned away from them, the smile fell from her face, while her heart slowly broke inside of her chest from everything that had just happened between them. The man she had just recently realized that she had deeper feelings for was experiencing confusing feelings for someone else, and that hurt more than she thought it would, but she wasn't going to get in the way of whatever was happening between them.

She was with Whitney, who she cared about more than anything, and she wasn't going to ruin anything between them, not only because she didn't want to be that girl, but also because she had a feeling that they were going to be perfect for each other.

Things would work out the way they were supposed to, she thought to herself, as she made her way towards Kwan's office, intending to fix this for all of her friends.

As soon as she disappeared from their sights, Pete, who had been watching and listening to every single one of his friends this entire time, walked closer to his best friend before giving him a knowing look. "You know, she isn't wrong about her forgiving you or the fact that you're the only one that can fix things with her."

Clark smiled, softly at him before shaking his head from side to side. "I can't believe that just happened."

"You mean, Lana telling you the last thing you expected her to?"

He nodded.

"That was quite surprising, but it wasn't exactly shocking either." At the look he was receiving from him, he pressed further, "Ever since I first saw you two in the same room together I could see exactly what was happening between the two of you, hell, it's like everything disappears until it's just the two of you. It was only going to be a matter of time before she figured it out too, and I know that you couldn't say the words to her for obvious reasons, but you can tell me. You have feelings for Lois, don't you?"

Clark sighed, heavily at him, knowing that it was useless denying what he was feeling anymore, but that didn't mean he was going to do anything about it. She probably didn't feel the same way, especially not after everything that had just happened, actually, she probably hated him right now.

"It doesn't matter what I feel for her."

"Why? Because you had a little argument?"

"No, because she'll most likely be leaving."

Pete sighed, heavily at him, as he shook his head from side to side, and he knew that he needed to knock some sense into him before he really did lose her. "So? What? You're just going to let her leave without her knowing how you feel?"

"I don't know what else to do. I mean, even if she did stay it wouldn't amount to anything. We both know how Chloe feels, and Lois will always put her feelings above her own. She has made that perfectly clear, and I'm still confused about everything, so what would be the point in telling her?"

"What would be the point? Are you being serious right now?" He dropped his head into his hands for a few seconds, not able to believe how naïve he was being right now before he looked up at him again. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Not Chloe. Not Lana. Not anyone. The only thing that matters is what the two of you feel. You might think she will choose her cousin over you just like she thinks you will choose Lana over her, but I have a feeling that neither of you are going to be able to deny what your feeling for much longer."

Clark remained silent, as he allowed his words to encompass every single part of him, and he knew that he was right, but how was he supposed to tell her how he felt if he didn't even understand it?

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, Clark, but I can tell you that this can go two completely different ways." He moved a little closer to him. "You could keep your feelings to yourself, make up this fight with her, and continue being her friend, even though that isn't what either of you want, or you could be honest with her, and see how things go from there."

He sighed, heavily, knowing that his best friend had a point, but he was scared—terrified—nervous over the fact that she was going to push him away, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. "How do you know she won't push me away?"

"Cause she has feelings for you, but um, maybe you should make things up with Chloe before doing anything else."

He grinned at him, knowing exactly what he needed to do, but first he had to find them, and as soon as he made things right with his best friend, he would tell her exactly what he felt, even though it was highly possible that she would push him even further away. "Thank you, Pete."

Pete just smiled at him. "Go get your girl."

Those words in particular caused him to smile, widely before he took off in the other direction, intending to make everything right. His best friend needed to understand that he would always have her back no matter what, and the woman that never left his mind needed to understand exactly what he felt for her.

It was risky, especially since she could most likely still be leaving, but he didn't care.

Not anymore.

He wanted more than just friendship with her, and he wasn't going to let this—let her slip away from him this easily.

* * *

Lois quickly made her way inside of the Beanery, attempting to find her cousin, who could be just as good at her at staying hidden, especially when she didn't want to be found, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found her sitting down at a booth near the back of the room.

It hadn't taken her very long to find her, which she was thankful for, but then again, she probably wasn't trying very hard to stay away from anyone, actually, she just wanted to escape from all the people attempting to make things right, and even though she understood that she probably wanted to be alone right now, she couldn't—wouldn't allow her cousin to be alone right now.

She needed her.

She slowly made her way over towards her. "Mind if I take a seat?"

Chloe glanced over at her before shrugging her shoulders. It wasn't really all that surprising that her cousin was the one that chased after her, and if she was being honest with herself, the only person she could stand being about right now was her, but why was she here exactly? Was it to tell her the same things Lana and Clark had told her? Or was it to tell her that she had every right to be upset right now?

She didn't know, but she really, really hoped it was the former.

She wouldn't be able to stand it if her own flesh and blood agreed with her friends over her.

Lois slowly sat down across from her, and tilted her head to one side, slightly, not really sure what to say to her right now, but knew that she needed to say something. "Are you okay, Chloe?"

"No, not really." She slowly looked over at her, and smiled, gratefully. "But I'm glad that you're the one that came after me."

"What are cousins for? I highly doubt that those two would even dare come looking for you right now." At the look she was receiving from her, she wiggled her brows, as a wide grin spread out across her face. "I might have told them off after you left."

She rose a brow at that. "You did?"

She nodded. "Did you really think that I would just let them get away with that? Lana definitely deserved everything I gave her, and she was definitely dumfounded by what I had to say, but Clark was a different story. I didn't particularly enjoy telling him off, but he upset you, and no one does that on my watch."

That caused her to smile, but it fell a few seconds later, as a particular thought occurred to her. "I understand why you would do that to Lana. You barely even know her, but Clark is different. You've spent time with him, you've bonded with him, and even if you won't admit to anyone except yourself it's obvious that you like him, so I have to ask, did you actually do it for me or was it because the fact that he defended Lana not only made you jealous, but upset you as well?"

Lois sighed, heavily at her, knowing that she needed—wanted the answer to that question more than anything, and even though she didn't want to upset her even more than she already was, she also wasn't going to lie to her face.

She deserved better than that.

"Honestly, it was a little of both." She looked away from her for a few seconds, attempting to find the will power within herself to get these words out before she locked her eyes back onto her. "I can't lie to you anymore, Chloe. I don't know what is happening between us, but there is something there. No matter how hard I try to fight it it won't go away, and I don't want to hurt you, Chloe. I really don't. I know you have feelings for him, but—"

"But he doesn't feel the same way," she finished for her.

She nodded, softly.

"I know that, Lois, and I know he never will. You know, when we were growing up there was always a part of myself that hoped he would realize that I wanted more than friendship, but then Lana came around, and now you. I don't think he'll ever realize the truth."

She grinned over at her, coyly. "Actually, he does know. I kind of, um, I kind of told him that you had a crush on him the night we met…"

Her eyes widened, slightly from that. "You did what?"

"I'm sorry, Chloe, but I was just so annoyed by how naïve he seemed to be when it came to women, and it kind of just slipped out."

Chloe couldn't stop herself from chuckling, loudly at that, and as soon as she managed to calm down her mirth, she smiled, softly at her. "Thank you for being honest with me, Lois, even though I figured it out long before either of you did, but um, I want you to know that if you really like him and if you do manage to convince your father to let you stay I'm not going to stand in the way. I want you to be happy."

Lois smiled, softly at that before pushing away all the feelings she had for that one man to the deepest parts of herself, and shook her head from side to side. "It doesn't matter what I feel of what he feels cause it's never going to amount into anything."

"Because of Lana?" She guessed.

She nodded before rolling her eyes to the sky. "What does he see in her?"

Chloe rolled her eyes as well. "In his eyes that woman is perfect."

Of course, he would think that, she thought to herself, and honestly, it made absolutely no sense to her, but she wasn't going to judge the guy for whoever he liked.

He couldn't control that.

Her cousin couldn't control it.

And neither could she.

But…

It was more than a little disheartening that he had chosen Lana over her.

There was a part of herself that knew she shouldn't be thinking this way, especially since they barely knew each other and he has spent years yearning for that woman, but the other part of herself couldn't help feeling like this, and she hated that she allowed him to crawl his way inside of her heart only after a few days.

It was going to be difficult getting him out, but it was possible, and from this point forward she wasn't going to allow anything he told her or did with her get to her.

They were friends and they would remain that way for the foreseeable future.

It was just the way things had to be, even though it was the last thing she wanted.

She wanted more than friendship with him, but his heart was already taken by another woman, and there was no way in hell she was going to be a second choice—a second option, so they would have to stay friends, even if it shattered her heart into a million pieces.

_**I really hate leaving all of you hanging so long for updates, but with everything that's been going on in the world I haven't really had the time to focus on this story as much as I would like. **_

_**This chapter was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster to write from Clois' first fight to Pete giving Clark the push he needed to Chloe giving Lois her blessing. I didn't particularly like writing Clark and Lois fighting, but things will certainly look up for them in the next chapter in more ways than one. **_

_**Now, I've been sticking pretty closely to canon so far, and for the most part I will continue to do so, but the next chapter will include many, many differences from the show. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter eight **_


	10. Chapter Nine

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Nine: **_

Clark slowly made his way inside of the Beanery, searching for the two people he needed to make amends with, and smiled to himself when he found them sitting down at a booth near the back of the room together, but stopped himself from walking over there right away, as he attempted figuring out what he was going to say to them.

Ever since he left the school, he has been trying to figure that part out, and has been coming to an impasse since they were both upset with him for two completely different reasons, so why would they choose to listen to him?

He didn't know, but he wasn't going to lose their friendships over this.

Here goes nothing, he thought to himself before he slowly made his way over to them.

"Lois, Chloe, can I talk to the both of you for a second?"

Chloe slowly glanced up at him with an unidentifiable expression lingering on her face, and even though she wanted be anywhere but with him right now, she also knew that he deserved a chance to explain himself, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "I guess that depends on whether you're here to apologize or to reiterate the same exact thing you told me earlier."

"I want to apologize." He glanced down at the woman that affected him in more ways than one. "To both of you."

Lois slowly looked up at him from those words, and stared at him for the longest time like that would help her determined whether he was here to apologize or not before she nodded at him. "But I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"Yes, I do, but we'll get to that." He slowly sat down across from them, completely ignoring the questioning look he was receiving from her, and focused his attention on his best friend before giving her a soft smile. "Chloe, I need you to know that I would never, ever choose Lana over you. You are my best friend, and I love you with all of my heart."

"Then why did you defend her?"

"I wasn't trying to—"

"But you did," Lois interrupted him, sourly.

"Yes, I did, but it wasn't my intention," he directed those words to her personally before glancing back over at his best friend." I want you to know that I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you get your job back, and until that happens no one is going to be writing anything for you. Not even Pete or myself."

Chloe tried her hardest not to give in so easily to his apology, but it was merely impossible when he was looking at her like that, and when it was quite obvious that he did really feel bad for everything that had happened.

How was it physically possible for him to make her forgive him with only a few words?

It must be that Kent charm, she thought to herself.

"I don't mind if you or Pete write anything, but please tell me that something is in the works to fix all of this?"

"Pete and Lana are working on it." He gave her a questioning look. "Does that mean that you forgive me?"

She hesitated on answering him for a few seconds, loving torturing him a little too much before she told him exactly what he wanted to hear, "Yes, Clark. I forgive you, but it won't be so easy next time."

"There won't be a next time."

"Good."

Lois smiled, softly, as she glanced between the two of them, and even though she was feeling quite happy at the mere fact that they had made up, she still couldn't help feeling hurt over the fact that he had defended the woman, who had caused all of this in the first place.

And she knew exactly why it was still bothering her even after he apologized.

She was jealous, and she knew it, but there was no way in hell that she was going to admit that to him, especially after vowing that she wouldn't allow him to make his way any further into her heart.

"It definitely won't be as easy with me."

Clark gulped, silently from her words before he very, very slowly turned towards her, and took a deep breath, attempting to find the courage—the strength within himself to get these words out, but figured that he just needed to say it before he completely chickened out like he normally did when it came to what he was feeling and what he wanted. "I'll get to my apology, but first I have to ask you something. Were you upset over the fact that I had hurt your cousin or were you jealous because I defended Lana?"

Chloe practically choked on her own saliva from his brash words, and honestly, it was the last thing she ever expected to hear him say, especially since he wasn't that guy. He wasn't the bold guy that told someone exactly what he was thinking, but that was obviously another side her cousin managed to bring out of him.

This was going to be interesting, she thought to herself, and even though she wanted to find out what was going to happen, she knew that this conversation didn't involve her.

Not anymore.

"And that would be my cue to leave." She quickly stood up, and started to walk away from them, but stopped when she was directly behind her cousin before she leaned closer to her, whispering, "Go easy on him."

Lois waited until her cousin was completely out of her sights before she turned back around towards him with a questioning gaze lingering in her eyes, as she stared at him like she couldn't believe he had actually said what he just did. "I'm sorry, but could you repeat that question."

He never took his eyes off her. "Were you jealous because I defended Lana?"

Yeah, she thought to herself, that's what she thought she heard the first time around, and honestly, she didn't know what to say or how to even react to something like that, but it did make her wonder where it was coming from.

Of course, they have been teasing and flirting with each other ever since they met, but she never thought he would ever be so blunt about it, actually, she thought that she would be the first one to say something to him.

It was quite obvious that she was wrong about that.

"What does that have to do with what happened earlier?"

"It has everything to do with what happened earlier." He tilted his head to one side, slightly, as his aquamarine eyes meshed with her hazel ones. "I'm not as naïve as you might think, Lois. We've shared some pretty intense moments ever since we met, and I've attempted ignoring everything I've been feeling, mainly because I knew you would be leaving, but you might not be leaving. After you left earlier, I came to the realization that you didn't get upset with me because of Chloe. You were upset because you were jealous. Now, I want to hear you say it."

Lois stared at him for the longest time, unable to believe anything the man sitting in front of her was saying, not because it wasn't the complete truth, but because the way he was speaking—the way he was holding himself—the way he was looking at her was unlike the way he has done in the past, and she wasn't entirely sure she was enjoying this change.

He was being straight forward with her, which was quite an attractive quality, but not when she was already having conflicting feelings for him, actually, it was only making things worse, and in Lois Lane fashion she did the one thing she was really good at when trapped in a corner…escape.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Clark."

He sighed, heavily at her, knowing that she was attempting to wriggle her way out of this one, but there was no way he was letting her leave this table until he got the answers he wanted—needed. "Just answer the damn question, Lois."

"Why should I? It isn't going to change anything."

"Except that it is." He leaned a little closer to her before taking a deep, deep breath, and told her the one thing he has been fighting for days now, "I like you, Lois. More than I probably should, and I want-need to know if you feel the same way."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, every single one of those walls surrounding her heart came back up, protecting her when she needed it the most, and effectively stopping her from saying or doing something that she would most likely regret later down the road.

Whether it would be five minutes from now, five hours from now, five days from now or even five months from now she didn't know, but she did know one thing for an absolute fact…she needed to get out of here.

And she needed to do it now.

"I, um, I gotta go."

Clark quickly chased after her, as soon as she had jetted from the table like she had been struck by lightning, not allowing her to escape from him this easily. He had made the decision to confront his feelings—to force her to confront her feelings, and there was no way in hell he was leaving her until he got what he wanted.

"Lois!"

She ignored him, as she kept making her way down the sidewalk.

"Lois! Wait!"

When she ignored him once again, he quickly checked his surroundings, making sure that no one could see him before super speeding directly in front of her, stopping her dead in her tracks, and smirking at the bewildered expression slowly spreading out across her face.

Lois stared at him, slightly confused for a few seconds before that fear—that terror she has felt ever since they realized that someone else had seen him using his abilities at the Museum came rushing back up to the surface, and everything except complete and utter worry evaporated from her. "Clark Kent! What the hell is wrong with you! Someone could have seen you!"

"I promise no one saw me."

"Yeah. That's what we thought last time, but here we are dealing with his constant threats looming over our heads."

He sighed, heavily at her. "Lois, would you relax? There is literally no one except the two of us out here, so I'm more than just a little bit positive that no one saw me, but I wouldn't have had to do that if you would just answer the damn question instead of running away from me."

Her hazel eyes glanced around their surroundings a few more times before she sighed, heavily, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this no matter how hard she tried, and very, very slowly returned her gaze to his. "Why are you doing this Clark?"

"Because I need to know the real reason you were upset with me." He moved a little closer to her before grabbing both of her hands, his thumbs caressing the top of her own. "Were you jealous?"

Her eyes snapped closed from his question, and right now—right now she wanted to be anywhere else, but she knew that he deserved to know what she was feeling and thinking.

But…

That didn't mean anything was going to change between them.

He still had feelings for Lana.

That much was obvious, and there was no way in hell she was going to be his second choice just because he couldn't have the woman he really wanted right now.

She very, very slowly opened her eyes. "Yes, Clark. I was jealous."

He grinned, widely at that, but her next words caused him to frown, immensely.

"But it doesn't change anything."

"What do you mean it doesn't change anything?"

Lois quickly pulled her hands away from him, and she could feel her own heart breaking from what she was about to do, but it needed to be done. She would never, ever be a second choice.

"Clark, we can't do this. At least not right now. I like you. More than I probably should, and I do have feelings for you, but what your feeling is completely different from what I'm feeling. I'll be damned if I become a second choice…again."

Now he was completely lost. "A second choice? What are you talking about?"

"You might like me-you might have feelings for me, but it's not the same way I feel. You still have feelings for her. You wouldn't have defended her if you didn't. I refuse to become a second choice, Clark. I've been down that road before, and I'll be damned if I allow you of all people to do that to me."

He stared at her for the longest time, as her words sunk into the deepest parts of himself before a pained and heartbroken expression slowly spread out across his face. "Do you really believe that I would do that to you? Do you actually believe that I would stop feeling whatever it is I'm feeling for you when or if Lana made it known that she wanted more with me? Do you actually believe that I would hurt you like that?"

"I don't know, and I'd rather not find out." She took a few more steps back from him. "I'm sorry, Clark, but let's just leave it at that, okay?"

Clark watched her turn away from him, and there was a small part of himself that knew he should just let her do what she wanted, especially since it was quite obvious that someone had hurt her in the past, but he wanted—needed her to know that she was the only person he wanted.

He would never, ever hurt her.

He would never, ever leave her just because someone else showed interest in him.

He would never, ever break her heart.

"I don't think so." He quickly grabbed one of her hands, twirled her back around towards him, her chest effectively crashing into his own, and wrapped one of his arms around her waist, not allowing her to escape from his grasp before he rested one of his hands on the side of her face, as her shocked hazel eyes meshed with aquamarine ones.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Proving to you that you're the only that I want."

His eyes glanced down to her soft, luscious lips just like had done earlier, but this time instead of stopping himself from doing what he wanted, he quickly lowered his head down to hers, and took her lips with his own, loving the feeling that erupted inside of him.

It was like everything stopped until it was just them—just Lois and Clark.

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers from his sudden and unexpected maneuver, not able to believe that he was actually kissing her right now, and even though she knew that she should do something—anything to stop this from happening, she couldn't stop herself from feeling pure excitement at the mere fact that he was holding her—touching her—kissing her before she melted into his embrace, instantly responding to his powerful kiss, enjoying every single thing it was making her feel deep inside.

Happiness.

Contentment.

Safe.

When he finally pulled away from her, he rested his forehead against her own with a wide smile gracing his lips from the mere fact that he had actually just done that. He has never been this brash—this forward with another woman, but for some reason she pulled out all these different sides to him, and he liked it…a lot.

Lois attempted catching her breath from that mind-blowing kiss, but it was merely impossible, especially when he was holding her so close to him—when he was breathing just as heavily as she was against her skin, and even though every single fiber in her being was screaming at her to just give in to everything she wanted, she still couldn't shake away her fears.

He might have just proved that his feelings for her were stronger than what he felt for Lana, but it still didn't change anything. She couldn't do this with him, not because she didn't want to explore every single thing she has been feeling ever since she laid her eyes on him because she did, but because those walls surrounding her heart wouldn't—couldn't let him all the way inside of her heart.

"Clark…you shouldn't have done that."

"Why? And don't you dare tell me it's cause you don't feel the same way. I know that's a lie. You just told me that you've been feeling all the things I've been feeling for days now, and you made that even more apparently clear when you kissed me back, so why can't we do this?"

"I have my reasons." She pulled away from him completely before taking several steps backwards. "I'm sorry, Clark. I just can't."

And with that she rushed away from him with a heavy heart.

Clark sighed, heavily, as he watched her disappear from his sights—disappear from him, and he honestly felt like his heart was going to shatter into a million pieces right then and there, but under no circumstances would he reveal that to her or to anyone.

It was more than a little disheartening, but he also knew that she was scared for some reason, and no matter what, he was going to prove to her that she could do this with him—that they could become something so much more and so much better.

It was only going to be a matter of time.

He slowly started walking in the other direction, knowing that she needed some space right now, and couldn't help wondering how he was going to get past all those walls protecting her heart, but before he could come up with one single solution a car pulled up directly beside him, stopping him from taking another step.

"Get inside the car, kid."

Clark completely ignored his words, as he continued walking, not wanting to deal with him right now, but before he could make it two steps, he pulled his car forward, knocking over the garbage can directly in front of him, causing him to glare at him. "What do you want Phelan?"

"Well, I'm gonna take a guess and say that that beautiful young lady of yours told you this already, but I had a wonderful conversation with your father, he seemed like a really good man. You know, always putting his family first. Now, if I were you, I'd start thinking like him."

He closed his eyes, softly, and breathed in deeply, knowing that he didn't really have a choice. If he didn't do what he wanted then he would probably do something to someone he cared about, and knowing what he did know about this man, it would probably be the woman that was the main cause of his heartache right now.

And there was no way in hell he was letting anything happen to her.

No matter what, he would keep her and everyone else he cared about safe.

"Tick tock, Clark. We don't have all day."

After another heavy sigh, he slowly crawled into the passenger seat of the car, his eyes staring out the window. This was the very last thing he wanted to be doing right now. He wanted to be finding a way to make the woman, who drove him completely and utterly crazy understand that he wanted her and only her, but of course this man had ruined everything.

But…

He would be returning to her before the day ended.

They had more than a few things to figure out, but first—first he needed to figure out what he wanted from him.

"Where are we going?"

"All in due time, Clark."

His eyes remained locked on the outside world, as they continued driving down the narrow streets, and even though he had found himself in quite a predicament, he was determined to end this, not only so he could get back to the woman he wanted to be with right now, but also so his family could finally get back to some normality.

No matter what, this was ending tonight.

* * *

Lois quickly rushed away from him until she rounded the corner, and rested her back against the concrete building, her hands covering her chest while it pounded, relentlessly inside of her chest like that would stop it from beating so fast, as her mind was consumed with thoughts of what he had just done—what she had just done.

The heartbroken expression that was plastered across his face before she turned away from him bombarded her mind, and it only caused her already aching heart to break even more.

She had put that there.

She had destroyed all his hopes of them becoming something more, and it was all because she was terrified to let him all the way inside of her heart.

Why did she have to push away the one man that made her feel things that no other man has ever made her feel? She didn't know, but it was better this way this way, wasn't it?

Her fingers slowly moved up to her lips before she traced them, gently, as her mind thought of nothing other than what had just happened between them. She could still feel those butterflies from when he had kissed her—she could still feel the fire that seeped throughout every single part of her body from when his body was pressed against hers so tightly—she could still feel that feeling of complete and utter serenity from when she was locked in his embrace.

And just like that everything evaporated from her except the truth that has been staring her straight in the face for days now.

She wanted him more than anything.

It was risky putting her heart out on the line like this, but she didn't care anymore, and there was no way in hell she was going to allow him to think that she didn't want this as much as he did, even though she was still feeling very, very terrified at the mere thought of letting him past those walls guarding her heart.

Without hesitation, she quickly started running back in the direction he had just been, intending to give them exactly what they both wanted, but stopped dead in her tracks when she watched him talk to the man, who has been making their lives a living hell before getting into the car with him.

What the hell is he doing? She questioned herself, as she watched them disappear down the street until she couldn't see them anymore.

She didn't know, but there was no way in hell she was letting this happen—there was no way in hell she was allowing him to do this on his own.

They had promised each other that they would deal with this together, and even though there might be a slight strain in their relationship right now, she wasn't going to allow anything to happen to him.

Her hand quickly shot out towards the road, stopping a cab that was seconds away from passing her, and as soon as she was sitting in the back seat, she locked eyes with the driver with a steely determination coursing through her veins. "Take me to Fort Ryan on the outskirts of the city."

The man nodded before merging with the traffic.

Lois stared out the window, feeling more than a little guilty right now, not because she was less than a few hours away from stepping foot onto the base she had left in the first place, but because she was breaking her promise to both Clark and Jonathan.

But…

This needed to be done.

She was going to do everything in her power to keep him safe, even if that meant her father finding out she had ran away when he strictly told her to go back to the base at the Museum.

Hopefully, he wouldn't be there, she thought to herself, not wanting her time in this town—her time with Clark to end before she even had a chance to apologize for hurting him the way she had.

When she finally made it to the base two hours later, she quickly paid the cab driver his fare before heading towards her best friends quarters, having a feeling that that was where he was going to be since that's usually where he was unless he was with her.

A soft smile graced her lips, as thoughts of all their many adventures together over the years consumed her mind. From the first day they met when they were just children to the time he attempted kissing her that drunken night almost one year ago.

There was a part of herself that was hoping that he would be happy to see her since he usually was when they spent time away from each other, whether it was a few days or a few months, but the other part of herself knew that that wasn't going to be his reaction.

He was just as terrified of her father as everyone else.

Here goes nothing, she thought to herself, as she opened his door without knocking just like she always did to find him standing in the small kitchen, making some lunch.

"It smells good in here. What are you making for us?"

Wes Keenan stopped every single one of his movements from the sound of her voice before very, very slowly turning around to face the one woman he has been worrying about for days now. "Lois."

"Is that all I get? No hug? No 'hey, how've you been'?"

He rolled his eyes at her sarcastic nature before quickly rushing over to her, and entrapping her in one of his bear hugs. "Is that better?"

"Much better," she told him, as she hugged him back just as fiercely.

When he pulled away from her, his eyes scanned over every single inch of her body like he was expecting to find some kind of injury on her. "Well, I see no scratches, marks or any type of bodily harm, so that must mean you just decided to run away…again."

Lois rolled her eyes at him. "Please don't start, Wes. I'm not in the mood for a lecture."

"Well, maybe you need one." He shook his head, softly. "Your father is going to kill you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I've heard it all before, but guess what? I'm still alive and kicking." Her eyes narrowed at him, slightly, as she tilted her head to one side. "Is he back yet?"

He just shook his head again.

"Good. This will be a lot easier with him gone."

A frown took over his features from her words. "Why do I get the feeling that you didn't come back to stay?"

"Because I didn't." She completely ignored the disappointed look he was giving her before pressing further, "Look, I need your help with something, and you can't ask too many questions cause I physically can't tell you anything, but um, I'm kind of in a situation that I can't exactly fix on my own."

Wes sighed, heavily at her. It wasn't the first time she had found herself in a situation that she couldn't get herself out of on her own, hell, he had helped her out of so many things over the years, and he highly doubted that this was going to be the last time.

"What did you do?"

"I'll have you know that I didn't do anything wrong," she told him with a feigned expression of hurt crossing over her features before continuing, "So, um, there's this guy that has been kind of harassing me and this friend of mine—"

"What friend? I'm your only friend," he interrupted her.

"You don't know him," she said with a glare before getting back on track, "Anyways, this guy has been harassing us. I can't tell you anything more than that, but he took my friend, and I need to find him before something happens."

He rose a brow at that. "Are you telling me that you not only managed to get involved with some scumbag, who is causing you more trouble than you need, but your friend was kidnapped?"

"Well, it's not exactly kidnapping when he went with him willingly, but I promise you that this guy is bad news." She stared at him, pleadingly, hoping against all hope that he would help her. "Can you help me find them?"

Another heavy sigh escaped past his closed lips, as he stared at his best friend, but there was no way he could deny her, besides it really did seem like she was in quite a predicament, and no matter what, he was going to do whatever it took to help her. "Fine, but have you thought about what you're going to do when we find them?"

A wide grin spread out across her face. "What do I look like to you? An amateur? Of course, I know what we're going to do. I need this guy off our backs like yesterday, so I guess my question is, do you still have a good relationship with Mason?"

"Mason? The tech guy?"

She nodded. "You know how good he is at finding things on people. My father has told me many times that he is one of the best in the field, and I'm gonna need him to find something on him before we go looking for them."

"What's this guys name?"

"Sam Phelan."

Wes quickly called up the man they've known for quite a long time since he worked alongside their parents almost on a daily basis, and as soon as he hung up the phone, he looked at his best friend, expectantly. "Mason is gonna give us a call when he's found something we can use. Now, in the meantime, I want to know everything you've been up to since I last saw you."

Lois slowly collapsed onto his couch before patting the seat next to her. "Take a seat, Wes. This is gonna take a while."

A few hours later, they were both sitting on the couch, enjoying their time together and enjoying rehashing the good old days just like they always seemed to do when they were together when Mason walked into the room with a worried and determined expression plastered across his face before he interrupted their little moment of happiness. "I have both bad and good news…"

Lois quickly stood up from the couch, all thought sof the story he was telling her immediately being replaced with finding the man she wanted so, so much more with. "What did you find?"

"Well, this Sam Phelan guy is definitely bad news. He has had several complaints filed against him, but nothing was ever done. He is very good at getting what he wants, and he doesn't care if he breaks the law in the process."

"So, he's a crooked cop. Tell me something I don't already know. Were you able to find anything to implicate him?"

He nodded. "But it won't hold up in court."

Of course, it wouldn't, she thought to herself.

What was it going to take to get this guy off their backs?

When he noticed her crestfallen expression, he continued, "Now, I know that you might not like this, but there is something we can do. He not only is harassing you, but he is also threatening you. Normally, the authorities wouldn't blink twice for something like that, especially in this particular case, but your not just a civilian. Your—"

"I'm the daughter of a Four Star General," she finished his sentence.

He nodded. "Your father has every right to arrest him, and hold him for forty-eight hours until we can manage to find a way to make one of these charges stick, which means we have to contact your father."

Lois sighed, heavily at that. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but if bringing her father into the mix of all of this was the only thing that was going to stop this man then she didn't really have a choice in the matter.

She would do everything in her power to protect him—to protect Clark.

"Did you already contact him?"

He nodded again. "He gave us the authority to arrest him, but no one is to interrogate him until he returns in a few hours."

"So, now all we have to do is find them."

"I already know where they are."

She gave him a weird look, not understanding how he could possibly know that since he didn't even know that she was intending on going after them, but before she could question him, her best friend spoke up from directly beside her, "I might have sent him a message, telling him to find Phelan since your friend is most likely with him right now before he brought us any kind of news."

She smiled at him, gratefully before clapping her hands together, determinedly. "Let's get this rogue cop."

As they made their way towards the several Military Officers waiting for them, Lois could feel all kinds of different things coursing throughout every single part of her body from what was about to happen, but the most prominent feeling was complete and utter happiness.

They were minutes away from stopping this man from threatening her or Clark any longer, and as soon as he was gone from their lives, she was going to do what she had been too scared to do earlier…tell him exactly what she wanted with him.

It was a little nerve-wrecking seeing him again after the way they had parted, but this time was going to be different—this time she wasn't going to allow that fear to envelop her. She was going to give into all those urges she has felt ever since the moment she laid her eyes on him.

The question was…could he forgive her for pushing him away in the first place?

* * *

On the other side of the city, Clark and Phelan slowly pulled up outside of a dark and isolated building, and as soon as the car came to a complete stop, he glanced over at him with a questioning expression slowly spreading out across his face.

For hours, they have been driving around Metropolis, and honestly, he would have thought that this would be over by now, but of course he was still stuck with the last person he wanted to be with right now. He wanted to be with her—with Lois, but at least she wasn't anywhere near this, especially since he had a feeling that he was about to do something very illegal.

It was the only reason he would bring him along with him.

There was a small part of himself that knew he could easily escape from this man, hell, he could refuse to do anything he wanted him to do, but the other part of himself knew that he couldn't do that. His family, his friends, and more importantly the woman he wanted so much more with would be in danger.

And there was no way in hell he was letting anything happen to them.

"What are we doing here?"

Phelan looked over at him. "You want to know the biggest obstacle to my job, Clark? It's not the perps. It's the bureaucracy. I mean, how am I supposed to fight crime with one hand tied behind my back?"

"I thought you said we were going after the bad guys?"

"Oh. We are. They're called Internal Affairs. In fact, the head of the AO Division lives right up there on the fifth floor."

Clark quickly got out of the car, feeling anger swarm throughout his entire body from his words, as he made his way over to him, and glared, heatedly at the man. "I'm not gonna hurt anybody!"

"Relax, Clark. You're just gonna help retrieve some files. You see, these AI types they have a real trust problem. It turns out that the Deputy Chief keeps all of his most sensitive case files at home. The man's got a safe, so you find it, open it and bring me whatever is inside. You do this one thing for me, and I'll never trouble you again."

Yeah right, he thought to himself, he knew enough about this man to know when he was lying to him, and even if he did this for him, he would still come after him.

He needed to figure something out and he needed to do it fast, or this was never going to end.

"I know what you're about, Phelan. Lex Luthor told me everything I need to know."

"Well, your friend, Lex isn't exactly on the side of angels either. He's got his secrets just like you and me." He looked at him, pointedly. "It's apartment 517."

Clark quickly made his way up towards the apartment, breaking the lock to get inside, and glanced around the room until he set his eyes on an old painting before using his x-ray vision to see through the picture, immediately finding the safe he wanted.

A smirk spread out across his face, as an idea occurred to him, and even though it wouldn't convict him or stop him from coming after him, it would put him in quite a predicament, which would give him enough time to find something on him and end this for good.

Without hesitating, he quickly ripped out the safe from the wall, grabbed the file he wanted, and tossed it out the window, watching, satisfactorily, as it crashed onto the hood of his car, destroying any chance of him escaping.

"Hey, Phelan," he yelled before smiling down at him, and super speeding down towards his car, the smile on his face just growing wider and wider. "Want your file? It's all yours."

He started handing over the folder to him, but stopped dead in his tracks when several Military Jeeps surrounded them on all sides, effectively blocking off every single escape route, and he honestly had no idea what was happening. Of course, he knew that ripping the safe out of the wall would alert the authorities, but they wouldn't send people that quickly, and they certainly wouldn't involve the Military, so again, what the hell was going on?

Phelan glanced around his surroundings, not able to believe that this was happening right now, but it's not like they had any authority here, so he would be able to get out of this just like he's been able to get out of everything in the past.

All of a sudden, Lois jumped out of one of the Jeeps with her best friend directly next to her, as the rest of the men surrounded Phelan with caution. "Did you really think that I was just going to let you get away with kidnapping my friend?"

He rolled his eyes at her words. "So, you called your Military friends? I'm sorry to break this to you, sweetheart, but this little plan of yours isn't going to work, and I'll tell you exactly why. First of all, I didn't kidnap your little boyfriend. He came with me willingly. Second of all, they don't have jurisdiction here."

"Except that they do." She smirked over at him. "You really should think about that the next time you threaten the daughter of Four Star General."

The men quickly read him his rights before handcuffing him, intending to get him back to the base before their boss arrived, knowing that he would have quite a few words to share with this man.

Phelan glared, heatedly at her. "Your going to pay for this."

She waved at him, mockingly, as she watched them haul him into the back of one of the vehicles before she locked eyes with her best friend. "I think we're good here, Wes."

Wes rose a brow at her choice of words. "Your coming with me."

"I'm going back to Smallville with Clark," she told him with a shake of her head.

"Your father is coming back tonight, hell, he's probably almost at the base. How long do you think it will take him to figure out that you're gone?"

"I really don't care, Wes, besides he's going to be a little busy with Phelan tonight, so all you have to do is not say anything to him. He'll find out, but at least I'll be with people who actually care about me instead of someone that only sees me as a disappointment." She slowly glanced over at Clark, who was staring between the two of them, bewilderingly with a soft smile gracing her lips before she returned her gaze to him. "I'm leaving with Clark whether you like it or not."

Wes stared at his best friend, not able to believe all the things that were coming out of her mouth, but there was no way in hell he was going to try to convince her otherwise. She had a pretty rocky relationship with her father, and it was quite obvious that she didn't want to stray too far from her friend.

If this is what she wanted then he wasn't going to fight her on it.

"Fine, but don't be surprised when he shows up on your doorstep tomorrow."

Lois watched him leave with the rest of her father's men before quickly turning around towards the man she has been worried about for hours now, and practically jumped into his arms, hugging him as tightly as physically possible, enjoying the feeling that erupted inside of her, not only from seeing him again, but also from having him in her arms.

She would always want this—want him.

"I'm so glad your okay."

Clark stood frozen for a few seconds when she just wrapped her arms around him, but it didn't take him very long to reciprocate her affections, and allowed himself to just enjoy this moment with her, even though he had more than a few questions rattling in his mind.

After a few minutes, he finally pulled away from her, but didn't remove his hands from her body, even though he knew he should, especially since she had pushed him away earlier. "Lois, um, I don't mean to be a downer or anything, but um, could you explain to me what the hell just happened cause I'm at a loss right now."

"Clark, I'll explain everything, but not here."

He smirked over at her. "Now, why do those words sound familiar?"

She rolled her eyes, as she pushed him away from her, playfully, but she couldn't stop the smile from gracing her lips. He always knew how to make her smile.

"I'm being serious, Clark."

"I know, but I just couldn't help myself." He slowly moved closer to her, cautiously, knowing that he had to pick her up if they wanted to get out of here, and as soon as she nodded at him in approval, he quickly lifted her up into his arms exactly the way he had done the night they met. "Comfortable enough?"

Lois nodded, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and smirked over at him. "Now this seems very familiar…"

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Now look who's being the teasing one."

She just chuckled at that. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's get out of here."

Clark stared at her for a few lingering seconds, wanting nothing more than to discuss the huge elephant in the room, but pushed all those feelings down, knowing that they had more important things to focus on right now before super speeding them away from the scene.

They had several things to discuss, but as soon as he understood what had happened here tonight, he was going to force her to confront what was really happening between them.

It was inevitable.

_**So, Clark and Lois shared their first kiss **_

_**Now, it might seem a little soon for them, but I wanted things to move a little quicker between them for obvious reasons. I wanted both Lana and Chloe to not really be a problem, but I can say that the road ahead of them isn't going to be easy. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter nine **_


	11. Chapter Ten

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Ten: **_

Clark quickly super sped them away from the apartment building in Metropolis to his loft before taking a few steps away from her as soon as he had placed her back on her feet, knowing that he needed to keep his distance from her, not only because he didn't know what she was feeling or what she even wanted, especially after she had practically ran away from him when he kissed her, but also because when he was standing this close to her—when he was holding her this close to him he only wanted to do one thing, and he couldn't do that.

At least not until he got the answers he wanted.

But…

They had more important things to deal with first.

"Lois, what the hell just happened?"

Lois slowly glanced over at him before wrapping her arms around her body like that would help her figure out the best way to explain everything. She knew that he deserved to know everything that had happened—everything that was bound to change now that her father was in the mix of things, but she also knew that that would eventually lead them to discuss what had happened between them, and honestly, she wasn't sure she was ready to have that conversation with him.

At least not yet.

She had vowed to be completely honest with him about her feelings—about what she wanted from him, but that was before all hell broke loose, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do now that everything has literally changed.

"Clark, you might want to sit down. A lot has happened since we last saw each other…"

He gave her a weird look before slowly making his way over to the couch, and sitting down, as he felt his nerves beginning to overwhelm every single one of his senses.

Lois moved a little closer to him, but didn't dare sit down next to him, knowing that she wouldn't be able to think straight if he was sitting that close to her. "Well, um, first of all, I know that I promised both you and your father that I wouldn't take matters into my own hands, but when I realized that you were with Phelan I knew that I needed to do something. I knew that my friend could help me find you, but I had to go back to the base."

His eyes widened from her words, as his heart faltered inside of his chest from the simple fact that she could have been seen by her father or worse forced to leave with him. "Did your father see you?"

"Luckily, he wasn't there," she told him with a shake of her head before taking a deep breath. "Wes and I managed to get Mason, my father's main tech guy to dig up some information about Phelan."

His brow rose at that. "Did he find anything?"

She nodded. "The problem were having is that none of the incriminating evidence against him can be held up in court."

"Then how were they able to arrest him?"

"Cause he threatened and harassed me time and time again, which gives my father all the inclination to interrogate him for forty-eight hours. Mason is hoping to find something that sticks during that time." She glanced down to the ground, knowing that her next words were definitely going to change everything before she looked back over at him. "Wes and Mason had no choice but to contact my father. He's probably at the base right now, and it'll only be a matter of time before he figures out I've been gone since that night at the Museum, hell, he probably already knows that I'm here in Smallville."

Clark sighed, heavily at that. Of course, he had known that it would happen sooner rather than later, but he was hoping that he would still have a few days without them worrying if she was going to be forced to leave, especially since they had more than a few things to figure out.

"What do you think is going to happen when he does find you?"

"I don't know. Nothing good, but um…" she trailed off, as she moved a little closer to him. "But I still intend on finding a way to convince him to let me stay. Uncle Gabe and Chloe are going to help on that front."

He smiled, softly at that. "My parents and I will speak on your behalf too. I'm sure even Pete and Lana would say something."

"Lana isn't going to say anything on my behalf," she scoffed before shaking her head, softly. "Pete I can understand, but Lana? I practically accused her of only being friends with my cousin just to be closer to you, so why would she say anything on my behalf to my father of all people?"

"You didn't see her after you left." He smiled, reassuringly at her. "She was so upset over everything that had happened. I promise you that she will definitely defend you to your father. All of us will. We all want you to stay, and I know you want to stay too."

"Yeah. I really do."

Clark stared at her for the longest time, immediately taking notice of all the several different emotions resonating in those beautiful hazel orbs of hers. It was quite obvious that she was terrified that her father was going to force her to leave no matter what anyone told him, and she had every reason to be nervous and even a little scared, but he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that she didn't leave.

He couldn't—wouldn't lose her.

"So, um, is this really over? I mean, do you think your father is gonna find something incriminating against Phelan?"

"I think so, but we won't know until tomorrow."

He nodded, as he felt complete and utter happiness at the mere fact that this was all over, but that feeling quickly transformed into confusion when a particular thought occurred to him, and he locked his eyes back onto her, hoping against all hope that she wouldn't run away from him again, especially since this question would most likely lead them to the conversation they were both avoiding. "How did you know that I was with Phelan?"

Lois hesitated from answering that question right away, not only because it would lead them into having the conversation they were both avoiding like the black plague, but also because it would mean that she would have to admit what she really wanted from him, and her fears about letting him all the way inside her heart—her worries about her father not allowing her to stay was holding her back.

But…

He deserved to know the truth.

"I, um, I came back for you, and uh, that's when I saw you getting into the car with him…"

His entire demeaner—attitude—facial expression changed from her riveting words, as he allowed everything she told him and everything she didn't say to consume every single part of his being, and it tilted his world on its axis.

She came back for him? Why would she do that? What did that mean? Did that mean she changed her mind about him—about them?

He didn't know, but he was going to find out.

He very, very slowly stood up from the couch, and made his way over towards her. "You came back for me?"

She nodded, nervously.

"Why did you come back for me Lois?" He questioned her, as he moved even closer to her, not noticing how nervous she was becoming from his close proximity.

Lois remained silent for a few seconds, but quickly pushed down all those fears—all those worries she was experiencing, knowing that it was the only thing stopping her from getting these words out. "I, um, I couldn't allow you to believe that I didn't feel the same way you do because I do…"

Her words caused his heart to beat like a jackhammer inside of his chest before he took several more steps closer to her, their chests mere inches away from each other, as he stared deeply into those hazel orbs of hers, only seeing the truth of her words shining back at him. "Do you mean that?"

She nodded, not able to think straight let alone speak when he was standing this close to her.

His eyes dropped down to her lips, momentarily before he connected them back onto hers like he was asking for permission to do the one thing he's been thinking about since the first time he experienced what it was like to kiss her, and when he didn't see no objection lingering in her eyes, he started leaning closer to her, intending to feel her lips against his once again, but she placed her hands on his chest, stopping him from moving any closer to her. "Clark, you can't kiss me again."

"Why not? You just said—"

"I know what I said, Clark, and I meant every single word, but it still doesn't change anything." She took a few steps back away from him, and took a deep breath, knowing that this wasn't only going to break his heart, but it was also going to break hers too.

But…

Now that her father was in the mix of things, it changed absolutely everything.

"When I made the decision to come after you-when I made the decision to tell you exactly what I wanted, I knew that it would change things between us in a good way, but that was before my father was brought into the mix of things. So many things have changed, Clark. I won't lie to you, but there's no way either of us can get what we want."

"Why not?" He repeated his question before quickly closing the space between them, completely ignoring the way she backed away from him. "We both feel the same way. We both want more than just this, so what could possibly be stopping us from getting exactly what we want?"

"My father and Chloe." When he have her a confused look, she pressed further. "Look, my father will most likely be here tomorrow, and I know that we all intend of trying to convince him to let me stay, but after all the trouble I have found myself in in just the past few days, I highly doubt that anything we tell him will make him see reasoning."

"Lois, I promise you that I'm going to make sure you stay, and—"

"Clark, I don't want to start something with you if I'm just going to end up leaving," she interrupted him before he could say anything that would change her mind, and took a deep breath, as she locked her sorrow-filled eyes onto his own. "It's not just that though…Chloe is still a big factor. You saw the way she looked at us inside the Beanery when you all but accused me of being jealous, and I don't want to hurt her more that we already have. She might have given me her blessing to be with you if that's what I wanted, but that doesn't mean she's okay with whatever is happening between us, and I can't hurt her-I won't break her heart even more than it already is."

Clark sighed, softly from her words. He knew that she had brought up several different reasons why they couldn't do this—why they couldn't be with each other like they wanted to, and they were all valid reasons to just remain friends, but he could see right through her. She wasn't doing this because of her father or her cousin. She was doing this because she was scared, and no matter what he had to do, he was going to prove to her that ignoring what was happening between them was only going to hurt them more than admitting that they wanted more with each other ever could.

"Neither of them have a say in what we do with each other or what we want with each other. Lois, you know better than anyone that I can come visit you every single day if you end up leaving with your father, and Chloe might not agree with what is happening between us, but is she really cares about us then she will be happy with whatever we decide."

"And allow my father to find out about you?" She shook her head from side to side, vehemently. "Do you realize what would happen if he found out the truth? He would lock you up, run tests on you, and you would just end up being a Military experiment for the rest of your life. I'm not going to allow that to happen."

"Lois, I wouldn't let something like that happen."

"You can't be sure of that, Clark." She took a deep breath before continuing, "Chloe, on the other hand, might be happy for us, but if I stayed-if I started something with you, it would create a very uncomfortable situation not only for the three of us, but with Lana too. I've already made a mess of things just by being here, and I don't want to make things even more uncomfortable between the four of us."

She took several steps away from him. "I'm sorry, Clark, but for now this is how it's gotta be."

Clark watched, sadly, as she started to walk away from him, and he could feel his heart breaking inside of his own chest. He could let her leave just like he had done earlier, but he was sick and tired of hiding what he wanted—what he was feeling, and he was going to make sure that she understood what he was feeling and what he was experiencing for the first time wasn't just some little confusing crush or some fleeting moment that would escape from them.

It was the realest thing he has ever felt in his entire life, and there was no way in hell he was going to allow her to slip away from him until she understood…everything.

"Lois, wait! Please! Please don't leave like this…"

Lois stopped dead in her tracks from the obvious heartbreak that was laced in his own voice, and in that moment, she knew that she was allowing every single one of her fears and worries to stop her from taking what she wanted—stop her from doing what she wanted, even though she had promised herself that she wouldn't do this, but before she could make another move—before she could utter a single word, his next words caught her completely off guard.

"Lois, I know you think that your father and Chloe are the main two things stopping us from taking what we both want, and in a way, you have a point. Your father could find out about me if you did leave and if I did visit you. Things could become very uncomfortable between the four of us if you did stay, but it's not the real reason your pushing me away." He took several steps towards her. "Your scared, Lois, hell, I'm even a little scared. I've never felt this way in my entire life. I've had crushes, but this doesn't just feel like another crush to me. It feels like something so much more."

He took a deep breath, as he moved even closer to her. "You know, the first time I laid my eyes on you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and the more time we spent together the more I realized that what I was feeling for you wasn't just some random crush that would disappear. At first, I only wanted to be your friend, and I still want to be your friend, but I want so, so much more with you."

"Clark, I—"

"I know you feel the same way, Lois," he interrupted before she could get a single sentence out. "I could feel it when you kissed me back earlier. There are so many different things stopping us from doing this, but I've lived my whole life in fear, and I don't want to do that anymore, especially not with you. I know your scared to let me all the way inside your heart-I know your scared that I'm gonna break your heart-I know your scared that I'm gonna wake up one morning and realize that you're not what I want anymore-I know your scared that your father is gonna find out about me-I know your scared of hurting your cousin, but every single one of those things are fears that are only stopping us from possibly experiencing the best thing that could ever happen to us."

He took another step towards her, wanting nothing more than to see her beautiful face, but understood that she was struggling with this, and wouldn't force her to be with him.

But…

She needed to understand the true depth of his feelings for her.

"I want you and only you, Lois. The question is…do you want me in the same way?"

Screw it, Lois thought to herself, as his words completely and utterly consumed every single fiber with her being, causing every single one of those walls around her heart to come tumbling down before she quickly turned around, rushed towards him, and crashed her lips against his, while her hands flung around his neck, her fingers tangling in his soft ebony locks.

His eyes widened to the size of saucers from her sudden and surprising maneuver, but it didn't take him very long to respond to her mind-blowing kiss. His hands immediately landed on her waist, squeezing, softly, as his lips moved with hers, passionately over and over again before he very, very slowly backed her up until he had her pressed up against one of the wooden beams.

Lois moaned, softly against his lips, loving the feeling of having him this close to her before she tightened her arms around his neck, effectively pulling her chest closer to his.

Clark grinned against her lips, as he slowly trailed one of his hands up her body until he reached the back of her head, his fingers curling into her long, brunette strands before he tilted his head to one side, slightly, deepening their kiss, while his other hand squeezed her waist a little tighter, and pulled her even closer to him, leaving absolutely no space between them.

When they were both gasping for breath, he pulled away from her, slightly, but kept his lips only a breath width away from hers, as he stared into those mesmerizing orbs of hers. "That wasn't the response I was expecting."

She blushed, profusely from his words, and looked away from him, not able to believe that she had just done that. Of course, she has wanted to kiss him again ever since earlier, but she never, ever expected that she would just attack him like she had just done.

Was it the wrong thing to do?

She didn't know, but she did know one thing for an absolute fact…kissing him—being this close to him—being with him like this felt righter than anything she has ever felt in her entire life, and even though they had several things getting in the way of them pursuing a relationship with each other, she knew that she never, ever wanted what she was feeling to stop.

She wanted it to last forever.

Clark tilted his head to one side, slightly, as he watched her hide herself from him before he placed his forefinger underneath her chin, and lifted her face back up towards his, forcing her to look at him. "It might not have been what I was expecting, but it was definitely what I wanted to happen."

That caused her to smile, softly, but it quickly fell, as all those fears and all those worries came rushing back up to the forefront of her mind. "I'm scared, Clark."

"I know you are, Lois. I'm scared too, but I know deep inside my heart that this is going to work. There might be a lot we have to figure out, but we can do this. We can because if everything that has happened from the moment we met proves anything it's that we can get through anything as long as we are together."

Her hazel eyes locked onto his. "Do you really mean that?"

He nodded. "I meant every word."

She smiled, softly at that before a soft sigh escaped past her closed lips from the simple thought of the difficult road that was ahead of them. "What are we going to do about my father? Chloe? Lana? And even your parents?"

"First of all, my parents love you and they will accept whatever is happening between us in a heartbeat, especially since they are already picturing you playing a big part in all of our lives." He rested his forehead against hers, softly. "As for your father, Chloe and Lana, I don't know what we're going to do, but we'll figure it all out. Just promise me that your not gonna run away from me again."

"I promise you, Clark. I'm never going to run away from you or this ever again."

"Good," he said with a smile before lowering his head down to hers, and capturing her lips in a sweet and soft kiss, loving the way she responded to him almost immediately.

RING! RING! RING!

Lois quickly pulled away from him at the sound of her cellphone ringing, and placed her hands on his chest, attempting to push him away from her, so she could answer the phone, but it was like attempting to move a steel wall before she whispered against his lips, "Clark, my phone—"

"Just ignore it," he whispered against her lips, interrupting her.

"But it could be uncle Gabe, Chloe or possibly even Wes."

He quickly pulled away from her at the mention of her best friend, who he has been jealous over ever since she told him about their relationship, and after what he witnessed tonight that feeling was only quadrupled. "You really know how to ruin the moment, don't you?"

Lois rolled her eyes at him, as she pushed him away from her. "Jealousy doesn't suit you, Clark."

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever."

She couldn't stop herself from grinning over at him, as she quickly pulled out her phone, instantly realizing that it was her cousin, who she hasn't seen or even spoken to in several hours, and took a deep breath, attempting to calm her racing mind before she answered the phone, "Hey, cuz. What's up?"

"There you are! My dad and I have been texting you for hours! Where the hell are you?"

"Chloe, take a deep breath. I'm fine. I'm at the farmhouse with Clark. We just got back a few minutes ago. I'm sorry I didn't call. I didn't mean to worry you guys."

It was silent on the other line for a few seconds before she spoke again, "So, you've been with Clark this entire time?"

Lois hesitated on answering that question for a few seconds, not because she didn't want to be honest with her cousin, but because she could hear the jealousy lingering in her voice. She might have given her her blessing to be with him, but it was quite obvious that the fact that she was with him was bothering her.

How the hell did she get herself into a situation like this?

Her eyes traveled over towards Clark, who was staring out the large window into the night sky with his hands resting on the wooden railing, and she immediately knew the answer to her own question.

Why did he have to be so irresistible? She questioned herself before quickly pushing that thought down to the deepest part of herself, knowing that if she didn't say something her cousin would be able to tell that she was keeping something from her just by remaining silent.

"No, Chloe. I haven't been with Clark the entire time." She took a deep breath. "Look, a lot of things have happened since you left the Beanery, and I'll explain everything as soon as I get back to the house."

"When will you be here?"

Her eyes locked onto Clark, who was now looking at her with an expression of worry and slight fear like he didn't want her to leave, and if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to leave either, but how was she supposed to explain that to her cousin?

She didn't know, but she did know that she didn't want to leave this farm—leave him, and no matter what, she intended on staying here with him.

"Um, I don't know. I think I'm just gonna stay here tonight. It's getting really late, and um, my father might have figured out that I'm here. The first place he is going to look for me is at your house, and—"

"Uncle Sam knows your in Smallville?" She interrupted her. "How did this happen? When did this happen? What the hell is going on?"

"He might know, but I promise that I'll explain everything tomorrow."

"You better, Lo."

"Love you, cuz." She quickly hung up the phone, and slipped it into her back pocket before glancing over at Clark, cautiously, knowing that he was going to have an onslaught of questions for her from the conversation he had overheard, but surprisingly enough, he was just smiling at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that I was going to ask you to stay, but it looks like I don't have to anymore." The smile never left his face, as he moved closer to her. "Is it really because you don't want your father to find you? Or is it because of something else?"

Lois chuckled, softly at him, and shook her head from side to side, slightly, as she moved even closer to him. "Do I really need to answer that question?"

He shook his head, as he continued stepping closer to her until they were mere inches away from each other. "Do you think she figured anything out?"

"You mean the fact that we kissed not only once but twice?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say it like that, but yeah…"

A heavy sigh escaped past her lips. "No, Clark. I don't think she figured anything out, but we have to tell her tomorrow. I won't lie to her. She deserves to know what is happening between us."

"And what is happening between us exactly?"

"I don't know, but I want to figure it out."

"So do I." He slowly rested his forehead against hers, as his hands found their way to her waist, effectively pulling her flush against his chest. "What are we gonna do if she doesn't agree with this? I mean, that wouldn't stop me from wanting to be with you, but um, I know how close you two are, and I know your fears when it comes to her. I just want to be sure that—"

Lois pressed a finger against his lips, effectively shushing him before removing her finger from his lips, and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Clark, nothing anyone says is going to stop me from wanting to be with you. If she has an issue with it then we'll just have to find a way to show her that we want this, but I will not go behind her back."

"I would never ask you to do something like that."

"Good," she responded to him before giving him a soft, sweet and quick kiss. "As much as I'm enjoying this, we should probably figure out sleeping arrangements. I don't think it would be wise to sleep out here again. I mean, we did promise your parents that they wouldn't find us in another precarious situation."

Clark chuckled, loudly at that. "You can sleep in my room, and I'll sleep on the couch, but you're not staying out here again."

She smirked over at him, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, I quite enjoyed sleeping out here with you that night. Your like a walking, talking, breathing heat generator. I think that was the best sleep I've had in years."

"Do you want my parents to kill us?"

Her lips turned into a slight pout. "Your no fun."

He rolled his eyes at her before intertwining his fingers with hers, delicately, and started pulling her down the loft stairs towards the farmhouse.

As soon as they made it inside of the farmhouse, Clark quickly took her upstairs, gave her some of his clothes to wear for the night, and now—now he was waiting for her to come out of the bathroom quite nervously. Honestly, he didn't understand why he was feeling so anxious right now. It wasn't the first time she had stayed the night with him, but that was completely different from this.

Last time, they had literally just met, and unintentionally fell asleep on each other inside of the barn. This was completely different, not only because she would be sleeping inside of his house and inside of his bed, but also because so many things have changed between them since this morning.

They weren't just friends anymore.

They were something else entirely.

Of course, he didn't know what to call them exactly since everything had happened so fast, but he could admit to himself that he like this change between them…a lot.

His thoughts were interrupted when the bathroom door opened, and he was rendered completely and utterly speechless, as his eyes roamed up and down the beautiful woman standing in front of him. She was only wearing his red and gold button up plaid shirt, which hung loosely around her body, and stopped right above her knees. Her long olive-toned legs seemed to glisten from the moonlight shining into the room. Her dark brunette locks were combed and swept to one side.

She was absolutely beautiful.

Lois felt the heat succumb to her cheeks from the way he was looking at her, and fiddled with the end of the shirt, nervously, as she looked anywhere except at him. She has never, ever been that girl, who was worried about what people were thinking, especially when it came to her, but right now the way he was looking at her was only making her feel more and more nervous.

Why was she feeling like this?

She didn't know, but she had a feeling that it was because so much has changed between them in the matter of hours.

"Um, sorry. I couldn't get the pants to fix, but your shirt was long enough. Do you have some shorts or something?"

"Lois, if my pants don't fit you then neither will my shorts." He gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. You look beautiful."

"Really?"

He nodded before taking a small step towards her. "So, um, I brought up some blankets and pillows for you since you seem to like staying warm at night."

"I liked sleeping next to you, Mr. Heat Generator," she corrected him with a smirk.

"Lois…" he said, warningly.

"Yeah. Yeah. I know. Your parents would most likely kill us if they found us sleeping together…again." She slowly walked over to the bed, and sat down on the edge of it. "Besides, I wouldn't want to make them not like me just cause they keep finding me in precarious situations with you. I'm gonna need all the help I can get tomorrow when my father shows up."

Clark slowly walked over to her, and sat down directly next to her before enclosing his larger hands around her smaller ones, comfortingly. "Lois, nothing you could say or do would make my parents hate you. They barely even know you, and I'm pretty sure they already love you. They both want you to stay just like I want you to stay, so you don't need to worry about them hating you. Your impossible to hate, Lois Lane."

Her emotion-filled eyes locked onto his. "Promise?"

"I promise." He stared into those beautiful hazel orbs of hers for the longest time, wanting nothing more than to just kiss her—hold her—stay with her, but he knew that if he did any of those things he wouldn't want to leave, and he'd rather his parents not find him in another awkward situation before he slowly stood up from the bed. "So, um, I should probably let you get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Lois watched him turn away from her completely, and start to head towards the partially closed door, but for some reason the sight of him leaving this room—leaving her was causing her heart to stricken, tightly inside of her chest. She didn't want him to leave, actually, she wanted him to stay with her, but she knew that that wasn't going to be possible.

But…

She couldn't let him leave without properly saying goodnight to him.

"Clark, wait!" She quickly rushed towards him, and the second he was fully facing her again, she crashed her lips against his, catching him off guard, slightly, as her hands landed on the back of his head, her fingers curling into his soft locks.

Clark was quite surprised by her sudden show of affection, but quickly responded to her sweet kiss before one of his hands rested on her waist, squeezing ever so slightly, as his other hand cupped the back of her head, gently.

"Mhmm," he hummed in pure satisfaction when she pulled away from him before giving her a confused but happy look. "What was that for?"

She just simply shrugged her shoulders.

Honestly, she didn't know or understand why she did that. It wasn't like her to just kiss whoever she wanted, but he wasn't just somebody. He was the person, who had slipped past all of her walls—who had caused her to think of things she had never, ever thought of—who was someone she wanted to start a relationship with.

It was like he brought out this more passionate side to herself, and if she was being honest with herself, kissing him was like walking on cloud nine—kissing him was like being in heaven.

"Go on a date with me."

His unexpected and surprising words pulled her out of her thoughts, instantaneously. "What did you just say?"

He chuckled, softly at the bewildered expression slowly spreading out across her face before repeating himself, "I want you to go on a date with me."

She stared at him for the longest time, not able to believe that he had actually uttered those words before an ear splitting grin graced her lips from the simple thought of spending an entire day with him without having to worry about anything other than the two of them. "When?"

"Tomorrow?" He asked her.

Her brow quirked at that. "You want to go on a date tomorrow?"

He nodded before smirking at her. "What? Are you doubting my date planning skills?"

"Maybe…" she told him with a smirk plastered across her face.

He growled low in his throat from her teasing manner before pulling her flush against his chest. "Just say yes, Lois."

"Yes, Clark. I would love to go on a date with you."

"Good," he told her with a wide grin before tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and whispered, "Goodnight, Lois."

"Goodnight, Clark," she whispered right back.

Two hours later, Lois was laying down on the bed with the covers pulled halfway up her body, as she stared up at the darkened ceiling, attempting to fall asleep, but it was merely impossible when every single time she closed her eyes she saw him.

The man sleeping downstairs, who had literally changed everything in just a matter of days.

When she met him, she never thought that something like this would happen—she never thought that she would be feeling this deeply and strongly for someone after only knowing them for a few days, hell, even this morning she didn't think it was possible, but now they were together.

Of course, she wouldn't dare refer him as her boyfriend or any other pet name for that matter, mainly because she still didn't know or understand how they arrived at this point in their relationship, especially since there will still so many things standing in their way, but she did know that he was hers in all the ways that mattered.

Hopefully, he felt the same way.

As soon as the thought entered her mind, she attempted pushing it to the deepest part of herself, knowing that if she kept thinking about this—about him she was never going to get any sleep, and rolled over in the bed, hoping that would help her fall asleep, but that thought was practically thrown out the window when his musky scent from the pillow consumed every single one of her senses, effectively causing her mind to conjure up images or them and their entire day together.

This was pointless, she thought to herself, as she quickly jumped out of bed, knowing that she wasn't going to be getting any kind of sleep tonight, but maybe just maybe finding something to distract herself would stop her from thinking about him.

She slowly crept her way down the stairs, past the darkened living room, where he was probably peacefully sleeping like a baby, and into the kitchen before she started rummaging through the cupboards, hoping to find something distraction worthy.

Clark was tossing and turning quite anxiously on the couch, not because it was indeed uncomfortable, hell, he has fallen asleep on this couch more times than he could count, but because of the woman, who was currently asleep upstairs in his bed.

She just wouldn't leave his head.

Just one week ago, the only things he was dealing with was his chores, his schoolwork, his friends, and stopping the meteor freak of the week, but now—now the only thing consuming his mind was her.

Lois Joanne Lane.

And if he was being honest with himself, he liked the mere fact that he felt this deeply and strongly for someone he barely even knew.

She just made everything so much better.

So many things have changed since this morning.

Instead of just being friends, they were so, so much more than that, but he wasn't entirely positive if he had the right or the inclination to call her his girlfriend yet. Of course, in his mind she was already his in every sense of the word, but they still had more than a few things to figure out, and they haven't even went on their first date yet, so how could he possibly even consider her to be his?

His eyes widened, slightly at the thought of their day tomorrow, and he momentarily regretted allowing that impulsive statement to slip out of his mouth, not because he didn't want to do that with her, but because he had absolutely no idea what they were going to do.

Tomorrow they would be spending the entire day together.

Tomorrow they would be doing romantic, couple things together.

Tomorrow they would be going on their first date.

Oh god, he thought to himself.

What the hell was he going to do?

He didn't know, but he needed to figure it out, and he needed to figure it out soon.

No matter what, tomorrow needed to be perfect.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her creeping her way down the stairs into the kitchen before he slowly raised himself on his elbows, and listened, as she started opening cupboard after cupboard, cursing, softly like she was looking for something very important.

A soft smile graced his lips from her obvious frustration, as he slowly stood up, walked over towards the kitchen, leaned against the wooden bannister, and watched her for a few more seconds before flipping on the light. "Looking for something?"

_**The night is long from over for Clark and Lois. **_

_**This chapter was honestly just a way for Clark and Lois to discuss all of their fears about moving forward with their relationship, and from this point forward, this story will be about them finding their way together. It might seem a little soon to put them together, but I have my reasons for it. **_

_**Originally, this story was only supposed to be this particular episode, and the next segment was going to include a few more episode from season one, but I've decided to just combine the two, which means that this story id going to be much longer than I anticipated. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter ten **_


	12. Chapter Eleven

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Eleven: **_

"Looking for something?" Clark asked, as he flipped on the light switch in the kitchen with an amused smile gracing his lips.

Lois practically jumped out of her own skin, not only from the light suddenly turning on, but also from the sound of his voice echoing from directly behind her, and quickly turned around towards him with her hands covering her palpitating chest like that would help calm her racing heart before she took a few steps towards him with a slightly guilty expression slowly spreading out across her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't wake me up." He took a few steps closer to her with a soft smile gracing his lips. "Well, I was trying to fall asleep, but then I heard you creep your little way down here before making quite a bit of noise in here."

Her eyes narrowed at him, dangerously from his words. "So, you were just enjoying listening to me fail quite miserably at trying to find something to eat in this dark house?"

He nodded before a smirk spread out across his face. "You know, it would probably work better if you had the light on. I mean, it's not like you have the ability to see in the dark. Unless, there is something you haven't told me about yourself."

"Not all of us are like you, mister," she told him with a roll of her eyes before she moved even closer to him, so they were standing less than a few feet away from each other. "But next time, I'll make sure to do that. Whether your sleeping or not."

His brow quirked at that. "There's gonna be a next time?"

She blushed, slightly from the way he was looking at her, and there was a small part of herself that knew he was just teasing her just like he always did, but she could see the complete sincerity lingering in those beautiful aquamarine eyes of his.

It was as clear as day.

He was enjoying the fact that they were able to spend the entire night together.

He wanted this to happen again.

And if she was being completely honest with herself, she would definitely want this to happen again.

She wanted to spend the entire night with him every single night.

But would Martha and Jonathan allow it?

As soon as the question entered her mind, she pushed it down to the deepest part of herself, not wanting to think about something that could possibly never happen. Her father was still the number one problem they were dealing with.

He literally held all of the cards.

Hopefully, when he did realize that she was gone and when he found her, he would hear her out instead of just forcing her to do the one thing she didn't want to do anymore. Of course, she would always be a military brat, and she would always be his little girl, even though most of the time they never saw eye to eye, but she wanted a somewhat normal life.

She wanted to live with her cousin and her uncle.

She wanted to make long lasting friendships with Pete and possibly even Lana.

She wanted to spend even more time with Jonathan and Martha, who she already cared for very deeply.

And more importantly, she didn't want to leave him—leave Clark.

"Maybe…" she trailed off, as she quickly pushed down every single thing he was making her feel just by looking at her before she changed the subject to something a little more safer than what was happening between them and definitely what their future was going to look like, especially since that was very uncertain right now. "So, um, instead of listening to me fail at one of the most basic things, maybe you can help. I mean, we both should probably get some sleep at some point. You have school and I have a lot of explaining to do with Chloe and my father when he inevitably finds me, but I, uh, I should probably eat something, or I won't be getting any sleep tonight."

Clark just smiled at her ramblings.

It was quite obvious that she was nervous.

There was a small part of himself that wanted to continue teasing her—wanted to continue flirting with her, but the other part of himself knew that she would most likely close down from him if he kept making her nervous.

She was still scared about this—about them.

Even though they didn't know each other very well, he did know that she could easily push him away if she felt overwhelmed, nervous or scared just like she had done not only once, but twice in one day, and that was the very last thing he wanted.

He never wanted her to push him away again.

"Well, what do you want?"

"Do you have any pancakes? Maybe even some chocolate chips?"

"Chocolate chip pancakes?" He questioningly asked, as his eyes traveled over to the bright green digital clock on the stove before he glanced back over at her with a teasing smirk slowly spreading out across his face. "You want chocolate chip pancakes at two in the morning?"

She nodded before giving him her best puppy dog look. "You could help me if you want. You know, since I'll most likely burn it otherwise."

He rolled his eyes at that. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders, slightly before grinning over at him, lopsidedly. "Keep me forever?"

"Don't tempt me, Lane," he told her with a smirk plastered across his face before he moved past her, and started grabbing all of the things they were going to need.

Lois was rendered completely and utterly speechless from his confident words.

What the hell happened to the shy and timid farm boy she had come to know? She questioned herself, but quickly pushed all those thoughts to the deepest part of herself, effectively snapping her out of her little trance, knowing that she needed to focus on the task at hand, and not the incredibly handsome man, who had his back facing her, as he started making the batter.

Like that was going to be possible, she thought to herself.

As soon as they finished making the last of the pancake mix, Lois grabbed the can of whipped cream, and topped off every single one of the pancakes before she poured some maple syrup over the top of them. "There. We're all done. Now we can eat."

Clark slowly glanced over at her with a bewildered expression plastered across his face from her words before he smirked over at her, as he crossed his arms over his chest, playfully. "You mean, I'm all done. You know since I'm the one that did all the cooking."

Lois narrowed her eyes at him, slightly, as she crossed her arms over her chest just like he had done with a slow growing smirk gracing her lips. "I helped."

"Lois, you mixed the batter and slapped some whip cream and syrup on them." When she gave him an annoyed look, he chuckled, softly before continuing, "You know, if I wasn't here you probably would have burned down my entire house. I mean, you did almost burn the first batch."

"But I didn't actually burn them," she defended herself.

"Because I was here." He shook his head from side to side, softly before smirking over at her. "You would be completely lost without me."

Her eyes narrowed at him, dangerously from his brash and teasing words. "You didn't just say that."

"Except that I did," he replied, as his smirk only grew wider and wider.

"Take it back!"

"I don't think so." He moved a little closer to her, so they were standing mere inches away from each other. "What would you do without me?"

Lois stared at him for a few lingering seconds, feeling completely and utterly surprised by his words, and she wanted nothing more than to make him pay for his teasing words, but what could she do to a man, who was practically invincible?

She grinned, internally, as a particular idea occurred to her, and even though he would probably grow irritated with her teasing manner, she wanted—needed to make him pay for his words.

"This," she muttered just loud enough for him to hear before she reached into the large bowl of leftover flour on the counter, grabbed a handful, and tossed it directly at him.

Clark stared at her, feeling completely surprised, not able to believe that she had just done that, and he knew without a doubt that it was all over his face, hell, he could taste it on his lips. "You didn't just do that."

"Except that I did." She smirked over at him. "What are you going to do about it?"

He growled low in his throat from her teasing words, and said, "this," before he quickly grabbed two handfuls of flour, using a tad bit of his superspeed, so she wouldn't have the chance to escape from him, and chucked it at her, enjoying the way her teasing expression transformed into one of complete and utter surprise.

Lois stared at him for the longest time with a mix of shock and surprise from what he had just done, of course, she had been the one that started this, but she didn't think he would be gall enough to do the same exact thing.

It was quite obvious that she was wrong about that.

"Two can play at this game, mister," she told him before grabbing the bowl of leftover flour with an evil glint lingering in her defying hazel eyes.

His eyes widened, slightly, not only from her words, but also from the fact that she had grabbed the bowl of flour, intending to us it against him before he grabbed the small bag of flour off the counter, and took several steps back away from her with a teasing glint lingering in his eyes. "You're the one that started this, Lois, but I'll be the one to finish it."

"That's what you think," she responded before she dashed towards him.

They chased each other around the kitchen, through the dining room, into the living room, tossing flour at each other, effectively making a mess absolutely everywhere, but when Lois ran out of flour to toss at him, she quickly rushed back into the kitchen, and dipped her hands into the leftover batter before smirking over at him. "Still think your gonna win?"

Clark stopped dead in his tracks when she raised her batter covered hands in the air, and slowly placed the bag of flour back on the counter before taking a few steps away from her. "Don't even think about it, Lois."

She ignored his words completely before she lunged towards him, intending to end this little game of theirs, which would undoubtedly make her the winner, but he quickly super sped directly behind her in a matter of seconds, wrapped both of his arms around her body, effectively stopping her from attacking him, and whispered in her ear, "Are you done?"

She nodded, slowly, unable to move due to the fact that he was holding her in place let alone able to speak a single word in denial or acceptance. It wasn't that she didn't want to keep teasing him because she did, but it was the fact that she could feel his hard chest pressing up against her back—she could feel his breath lingering on the side of her neck, and it was causing emotion after emotion to consume her.

After a few seconds, he slowly unwrapped his arms from around her body, allowing her arms free before he slowly turned her back around towards him, so they were facing each other, and was seconds away from telling her that they should probably clean up since they had made quite the mess, but the moment his eyes meshed with hers everything vanished until it was just the two of them.

Just like they've done several times in the time they've known each other.

He slowly leaned forward, intending to kiss her, but before he could feel her lips against his—before he could taste the sweet flavor that was purely her, she rose her hands, and smeared the batter across his face, causing him to stare at her completely and utterly surprised.

Lois chuckled, loudly at the bewildered expression slowly spreading out across his face before grabbing a towel and wiping the rest of the batter off her hands. "Now I'm done."

Clark growled low in his throat before he stalked towards her like a predator coming after his prey until her back was pressed up against the sink, and rested both of his hands on the side of the counter, not allowing her to escape from him. "Your such a tease."

"That is true, but you like that about me."

His eyes locked onto hers, all thoughts of making her pay for what she had done evaporating from his mind, immediately being replaced with what she made him feel—what she made him think—what she did to him just by looking at him. "I just like you."

They stared at each other for the longest time, as their eyes kept continuously dropping down to each other's lips before they leaned forward, simultaneously, and kissed quite passionately, their bodies molding together, while his hands went straight to her waist, squeezing ever so slightly and her hands went straight to his ebony locks, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair.

When he pulled away from their kiss, he rested his forehead against hers, softly. "You taste like flour."

"And you taste like batter." She shook her head from side to side with a soft smile gracing her lips from their antics before she glanced around the kitchen, not able to believe the mess they had made. "We made quite the mess."

"You mean, you made quite the mess," he corrected her with a teasing smile before he followed her gaze around the kitchen. "We should probably clean this up. My parents would kill us if they woke up to this."

"You would be right about that."

Clark and Lois froze from the sound of that all too familiar voice for several seconds, and took a deep, deep breath, simultaneously, both of them knowing that this wasn't going to end well for either of them before they very slowly turned around to face the two people, who were staring at them with two completely different expressions.

One was filled with complete surprise and confusion, while the other one was filled with nothing but utter shock and slight anger.

"Mom…dad…" Clark managed to get out at the same exact time Lois said, "Martha…Jonathan…"

Jonathan, who had been woken up only a few seconds before his wife from the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen, glanced between the two of them several times, his facial expression revealing that he wasn't happy or thrilled with what he was witnessing. "What the hell are the two of you doing?"

Clark and Lois slowly glanced over at each other, their eyes locking onto each other, instantly, as they shared the same exact thought, both of them knowing that they needed to be short and simple with their answers or it could quite possibly make this entire situation ten times worse.

Clark quickly focused his attention on his parents, and took a few steps closer to them. "We can explain, uh, we were, um, we were—"

"We were just making some pancakes," Lois interrupted him, as she moved closer to them, so she was standing directly next to Clark again.

Martha rose a brow from her words before glancing around her destroyed kitchen. "And that meant messing up my kitchen in the process?"

Lois immediately felt guilt consume every single fiber in her body from her words before she took another step closer to her with an apologetic expression slowly spreading out across her face. "We're really, really sorry. We'll clean everything up. I promise."

"Damn straight you will." Jonathan shook his head from side to side, softly, as he glanced around the mess his son and the woman he could easily picture becoming a major part of this family had made before he moved even closer to them. "I want the two of you to go get cleaned up right now. Martha and I will start putting everything away, but when you come back downstairs you'll both be cleaning up this mess."

When he noticed the way they glanced at each other like they were going to enjoy any amount of time they spent together, even if it would just be cleaning, he made himself perfectly clear, "And you'll be doing it…separately."

They both nodded at him before quickly disappearing up the stairs.

As soon as they made it up to his bedroom, Clark slowly collapsed down onto his desk chair, while Lois plopped down onto his bed, both of their minds not able to think of anything other than what had just happened. Not only did they wake up his parents in the middle of the night, but they were also caught making quite a mess of most of the downstairs, and neither of them seemed very happy about it.

How were they supposed to explain this situation?

Lois slowly glanced over at Clark, who was just as lost in his thoughts as she was, before she fidgeted, uncomfortably at the edge of the bed, her fingers, subconsciously digging into the sheets. "Your dad didn't seem too happy."

Clark nodded. "He was definitely a little mad, but I think he's more confused than anything else. My actions over the past few days has made them a little uneasy I guess. First with using my abilities in the city, then telling you the truth about myself, and now they've witnessed the two of us pretty much destroying their livelihood with flour and batter of all things. I think it's safe to say that my parents are just confused about all of this."

She smiled, softly from his words, but it quickly fell when a particular thought occurred to her, causing her heart to begin beating faster and faster from the mere idea of it being possible. "Uh, Clark?"

He frowned at her sudden change of demeanor before quickly standing up, walking over towards the bed, and sitting down directly next to her, his eyes locking onto hers almost immediately. "What is it?"

"Do you think your parents saw us…" she trailed off, not knowing the proper way to end that sentence.

His frown grew deeper. "Saw us doing what?"

Figures, she thought to herself, she would have to spell it out for him to understand what she was attempting and failing at getting across to him.

"Do you think they saw us…" she trailed off once again, attempting to say the words without feeling her stomach churn into anxious knots and without blushing, but it was merely impossible when the man, who was responsible for making her feel all those things was currently looking at her with genuine concern like he was worried her next words were going to be the end of the world, which actually wasn't too far off the mark. "You know, kissing in the kitchen. I mean, who knows how long they were standing there."

His eyes widened to the size of saucers from the mere thought of his parents witnessing something like that, and he could feel his heart racing from the conversation he was bound to have with both of them if they did. It wasn't that he didn't want them to know that there was something happening between them, especially since he had a feeling that they knew this was going to happen, but it was the fact that they were both still very confused about everything that had transpired in one day, and he wanted to figure that out with her and only her.

"Do you think they saw us?"

She just simply shrugged her shoulders.

Clark let out a loud and heavy sigh before he ran one of his hands down his face like that would wipe away the several problems he was experiencing at this moment. "I guess we'll deal with it just like we've dealt with everything else."

"Together," she said with a smile gracing her lips.

"Together," he repeated with an even wider smile before a thoughtful expression took over his features. "Even if they did see us, I think they would be okay with it-with us."

Lois quirked a brow from that, not able to believe that his parents would just accept whatever was happening between the two of them, especially since she's only known them for a few days, but if there was anyone that would accept their decision to figure this out together she would definitely want it to be two of them. "Do you really think so?"

He nodded before resting one of his hands on the side of her face, loving the way she leaned into his touch almost like it was instinct. "I think they've seen it from day one. They've both made comments to me. The first day you met them my dad might have asked me if I liked you."

Her brow quirked at that before she smirked over at him. "And what did you tell him?"

His face turned a light shade of red from her blunt question, but he didn't look away from her, not wanting to hide anything he was feeling or even thinking from the woman, who has made him feel so many different things in the past few days. "I denied it."

"I did the same thing with Chloe."

"The first night we met," he started before moving a little closer to her, his aquamarine eyes meshing with her hazel ones. "I was so confused by everything I was experiencing, and it only got more confusing when we fell asleep together in the loft. I didn't know how to explain what I was feeling."

"And now you can explain what your feeling?"

He nodded, his eyes never wavering from hers.

She smirked over at him with a teasing glint lingering in her eyes, as she moved a little closer to him. "And what are you feeling exactly?"

Clark grinned, widely from her words, knowing exactly what she was doing right now before he copied her movements, so they were mere inches away from each other. "I might not understand why I'm feeling this way so suddenly, but I do know that I want to feel this way for as long as possible."

Lois smiled, softly from that before looking away from him, shyly, not only because she didn't want him to see the bright red blush that was slowly creeping its way across her cheeks, but also because she honestly had no idea how to respond to that.

The pure affection that was laced in his words—that was radiating out of those beautiful aquamarine orbs of his was unlike anything she has felt in her entire life, and it was causing her heart to fill with what she could only identify as love from the simple fact that they felt the same exact way.

This might be new territory for both of them, but she had a feeling that it would always be like this with him.

They would always be on the same wavelength.

Clark stared at her for the longest time, as his head tilted to one side, slightly from the shyness she was showing him right now before he placed one of his fingers underneath her chin, forcing her to look up at him, and without hesitating for even a split second, he leaned closer to her, wanting—needing to feel her lips against his.

As soon as she felt his lips brushing ever so lightly against hers, Lois melted into his embrace, loving the way his arms wrapped around her body, pushing her even closer to his chest, her hands instinctively locking behind his head, while her fingers spread out through his dark locks before she pressed her lips a little harder against his, effectively deepening their kiss.

"What was that for?" She asked when she pulled away from him.

"Oh, you know, just in case I don't get the chance to do it again tonight."

She chuckled, softly at his sarcastic remark, but it slightly fell short at the thought of what was going to happen when they inevitably made it down those stairs. "How long do you think your dad will be mad about what we did to the majority of the downstairs?"

"Don't worry, Lois. This will all be a distant memory in the morning." He lightly pushed her, attempting to lighten the mood between them, and gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "Besides, your too amazing to stay mad at for too long."

Those words immediately brought a smile back to her face before she locked her eyes onto his once again, loving the feeling that encompassed her from the simple fact that he was able to make her feel like everything was going to be okay no matter what stood in their way.

How could one person make her feel like this every single second she spent with him?

She didn't know, but she did know that she wanted to feel this way for as long as she possibly could.

She softly punched his arm with a playful smile gracing her lips. "Thanks, Smallville."

He chuckled, softly at her favorite nickname for him before he glanced towards the hallway, knowing that they needed to get back downstairs sooner rather than later or his father might become even more irritated with them, and he probably wouldn't hesitate on coming up here and moving this along, especially after what they had done to the kitchen, dining room and living room.

And the fact that they were kissing in the kitchen, he reminded himself, but quickly pushed that thought aside, hoping against all hope that that little detail didn't come out tonight.

If it did, it was going to be a very long night.

"Um, we should probably clean up before my dad comes up here searching for us."

"Right," she responded before she roamed her eyes up and down his muscular body, her lips slightly curving into a smile from the sight of him covered in flour and batter, and tried her hardest not to laugh, as the memories of their little food fight flooded her mind. "You definitely need a shower."

He rolled his eyes at her comment. "This is your fault, you know."

She grinned from ear to ear before practically pushing him out of the bedroom. "Yeah. Yeah. Whatever, farm boy. Just hurry up."

Thirty minutes later, they slowly made their way downstairs, both of them immediately noticing how silent it was, which wasn't exactly a normal thing in this house, and it only added to the trepidation they were feeling, but as soon as their feet landed on the hardwood floor, they heard Jonathan bellow out his name before either of them could say anything.

"And that would be my cue."

"Good luck," she told him with a chuckle, and watched him disappear from her sights before she made her way towards the kitchen, where she knew she wasn't going to be able to lie or hide what she was feeling or what she was even thinking from the lovely Martha Kent.

That woman could read her like a book.

As soon as she stepped foot inside of the kitchen, where Martha was cleaning up their mess, she stopped dead in her tracks, feeling nothing but complete and utter guilt consume every single part of her from the mess they had made, and she was honestly quite terrified at what was going to happen.

Was she going to be mad? Angry? Upset?

Before she even had a chance to utter a single word to make her presence known, Martha turned around towards her with a soft smile playing at her lips, and broke the clear ice between them, "Well, don't just stand there, dear. Grab the broom, and start sweeping all this up."

Lois smiled at the way she could easily make an uncomfortable situation less daunting with only a few words before she did exactly as she wanted, and even though there was a small part of herself that just wanted this night to be over, she also knew that this entire thing was her fault. She had been the one that started their little food fight, which inevitably led to them messing up more than just the kitchen, but if she was being completely honest with herself, this wasn't entirely her fault.

He just had to be so damn cute and adorable, especially when she was teasing him.

Focus, she scolded herself from thinking that way, knowing that she had way more important things to worry about right now.

She slowly glanced over at her, feeling that guilt intensify, as she watched her clean the mess she had made with her son before she took a deep breath, physically and mentally preparing herself for the worst. "I'm sorry we messed up the kitchen, dining room and living room, but mostly I'm sorry for this room. It was my mom's favorite place to be as well."

"It's okay, Lois," she reassured her with a soft smile before giving her a knowing look. "You know, both Jonathan and I were young at one point in our lives. We used to do the same exact thing when we were your age. I'm sure your father and mother did at some point as well. It's perfectly normal to enjoy spending time with someone, but I have to say that it looked and sounded like the two of you were having the time of your lives."

Lois completely ignored the not so subtle meaning behind her last comment, not wanting to have that particular conversation with her right now, especially since she was still very confused with how everything was changing so quickly, but honestly, she wanted to figure this out with him and only him before anyone else was involved. "We might have went a little overboard."

Martha gave her a look. "Just a little bit?"

They both chuckled, loudly, both of them feeling more than a little thankful at the fact that the awkwardness between them had all but disappeared.

Just like it usually did with her, Lois thought to herself before she watched her wipe down the counters, her head tilting to one side, slightly, as she wondered the same exact thing she was worried about before walking down those stairs. "Do you think Jonathan is still mad?"

Martha stopped what she was doing from those words, glanced over at her, and immediately noticed the worry that was consuming her little mind before gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Lois. This was nothing compared to when we came home from a getaway in Metropolis to find this place a complete mess. A little food fight doesn't compare to a full-fledged party."

Her eyes widened from that, slightly. "Wait a second. Clark Kent, the mild-mannered farm boy threw a party while you were gone?"

She nodded. "So, trust me when I tell you this. Jonathan isn't mad at you or Clark for that matter. I think he was more shocked than anything else. We both were."

A slight frown etched over her features. "Shocked to see us having a food fight?"

Martha shook her head, slightly before smiling over at her, knowingly. "It wasn't the food fight that shocked him, Lois."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Lois quickly looked away from her, knowing exactly what she meant, not only from the implication behind her words, but also from the way she was looking at her, and in that moment she knew that they had definitely seen them.

Great, she thought to herself, just great.

It wasn't that she didn't want them to know about what was happening between the two of them, but it was the fact that it was highly possible that what they had started not even a few hours ago could possibly end tomorrow when her father inevitably found her, and even if they did convince him to allow her to stay in this small-town, she still had to be honest with her cousin.

And that was ten times more daunting than dealing with her father.

There was a small part of herself that wanted nothing more than to confide in the woman standing in front of her, especially since she already saw her as a mother figure in her life, but the other part of herself was terrified that they wouldn't want her with their son.

Jonathan was very protective over his son, especially when it came to his secret.

Martha clearly only wanted what was best for him, even if she didn't agree with it.

They might like her, but did that mean they would accept the fact that she wanted to be more than just friends with their son?

She didn't know, and she honestly wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

"I have no idea what your talking about."

Martha grinned even wider from the way she attempted brushing off the topic like it was the black plague, and even though she could tell that the young woman standing in front of her was feeling very confused about what was clearly happening, hell, even her son was confused, she wanted to know what was happening between the two of them.

Of course, she would never pressure or force her to tell her something she already knew to be the truth, but she wanted what was best for her son, and she had a feeling that this woman was the best thing that could ever happen to him.

Lois Lane was good for him.

"So, we didn't witness the two of you kissing in the middle of my kitchen?"

Lois practically choked on her own saliva from those words, and as soon as she managed to catch her own breath—managed to calm her racing heart, she locked her hazel eyes onto the woman, who had just uttered the last thing she ever expected, attempting to say something—anything, but she was too shell-shocked to get out one single word.

Martha chuckled, softly from the dear caught in headlights expression that was plastered across her face. "Sorry to be so blunt, dear, but I've seen this coming from the first moment I saw the two of you sleeping together in the loft."

"You have?"

She nodded. "It was as clear as day. Jonathan saw it. Chloe, Lana and Pete probably did too. I know that you both are confused, which is completely understandable, especially with everything that's going on, but I want you to know that you'll always have a place here. We'll always be here to talk if you need to."

She smiled at her, playfully. "I just might have some advice. I mean, it's not like I haven't been through this before."

"I just might take you up on that offer." She grinned, widely over at her, loving how nothing changed in their relationship just because she had feelings for her son, and she hoped that it would always stay like that no matter what happened between them. "Martha, you would probably be the first person I would confide in for everything, but I have to be honest. I'm terrified that I might only have tonight and tomorrow left to spend with not only him, but with all of you, and Chloe as well."

"Is that why you two were making food in the kitchen at two in the morning?"

"Kind of." At the confused expression slowly spreading out across her face, she pressed further, "In a way, we both want to spend time together, but it's kind of been like that since we met. My plan was to just grab something to eat, but—"

"But my son had something else in mind," she finished for her.

"Well, technically I started the little food fight, but he made sure to finish it." She shook her head from side to side with a soft smile gracing her lips, as the memories flashed in her mind over and over again. "Is he always like that?"

Martha smiled, widely over at her. "He's only like that with you, Lois."

Lois gulped, silently from that, knowing exactly what she truly meant by that. She brought out different sides to himself—sides of himself that he never showed anyone just like he did with her, and it was quite obvious that both Martha and Jonathan would be perfectly okay with them being more than friends, but did that mean this could actually work? Could they actually be together like they both obviously wanted?

She didn't know, but she hoped that they would find out soon.

They just had to get through tomorrow.

* * *

Clark very slowly made his way into the living room, where his father was cleaning all of the flour off the furniture, and he didn't look happy, actually, he looked pretty pissed at the fact that he had been woken up to this, which was completely understandable. He wouldn't be happy if someone did the same exact thing to him, but he just couldn't help himself with her.

She just had the uncanny ability to make him forget everything except for what was happening between the two of them.

How could one person make him feel like that every single second he spent with her?

He didn't know, but he did know that he would never, ever regret any time he spent with her, even at the cost of getting a lecture from his parents.

"Dad…"

"Grab the broom, Clark, and start cleaning up this mess," he ordered without even looking at him.

A heavy sigh escaped past his closed lips from the way his father refused to look at him and from the way he only wanted to focus on the task at hand instead of the huge elephant in the room before he did exactly as he was told, but just because his father wasn't in the mood to talk about this situation that didn't mean he was just going to stay silent the entire time.

He needed to understand why this happened.

"Dad…I'm really, really sorry about all of this, and so is Lois, but we don't regret what happened tonight."

Jonathan stopped what he was doing from his words before he slowly turned around towards his son for the first time since he walked into this room with a bewildered expression slowly spreading out across his face. "You don't regret what you did?"

He shook his head, softly. "No. We don't regret what we did, but we both know that we shouldn't have made a mess of the house. We are sorry about that, and it won't happen again, but I won't apologize for enjoying spending time with her."

Jonathan quickly turned his back on him, grinning to himself, as he continued cleaning off the couch. It was quite obvious that his son was completely and utterly captivated by this woman, but that didn't surprise him. It was the fact that he was defending their choices.

If she was anyone else, he probably would have never done something like this, but it was her, and he had a feeling that this wasn't going to be the last time he witnessed something like this between the two of them.

"I'm not angry with either of you. I might have been when I first came down those stairs, but I've had some time to cool off with the help of your mother, and I understand that you two enjoy spending time with each other-enjoy having fun with each other, but for the love of god please don't do this to my house again."

Clark couldn't help but chuckle at his father, knowing that he was being dead serious with him, but he was also letting him know that he wasn't angry with them for what they did.

At least not anymore.

"It won't happen again."

It grew comfortably silent between the two of them, as they continued cleaning the living room, but after several minutes, Jonathan glanced over at his son, who seemed to be completely lost in his thoughts, his mind immediately replaying the romantic moment he had witnessed between his son and the woman he already cared very deeply for, and even though he wanted his son to open up to him like he usually did, he couldn't help wondering what had changed in the matter of one single day.

Just this morning they were just friends, who were obviously keeping their feelings for each other to themselves, and now—now they were kissing in his kitchen in the middle of the night.

It just didn't make any sense.

How could so many things change in such a short amount of time?

Before she came into their lives, his son never would have done any of the things he's done in the past few days, but for some reason this woman brought out several different sides to his son, and if he was being honest with himself, he was enjoying watching him behave more and more like himself, especially when he was with her.

But…

That didn't mean he was gonna just allow the two of them to do whatever they wanted.

They were still young teenagers, and they still needed to follow the rules, but honestly, he enjoyed the simple fact that his son had such a wonderful woman in his life.

Lois Lane was definitely going to be good for him.

"So, do you mind explaining what I witnessed in the kitchen?"

Clark immediately froze from those words, having a feeling what his father was attempting to say to him, but there was no way in hell he was going to say anything regarding that specific moment until he knew for a fact if they saw them or not. "What do you mean?"

Jonathan stopped what he was doing once again, and turned back around towards him with a look that clearly stated that he wasn't born yesterday. "I think you know exactly what I mean, Clark."

He sighed, heavily from those words, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to escape from this particular conversation very easily before he stopped sweeping the floor, and looked over at him, questioningly. "You saw that?"

"Your mother did too." He moved a little closer to his son. "What's going on there exactly? I mean, this morning you two were just friends, and now your what? Together?"

"I don't know." He slowly plopped down onto the couch, and rested his head against the cushions, as his eyes trained on the white, popcorn ceiling. "Things are so confusing right now, dad. I mean, we're friends, but we are also something more. I don't know. Everything has happened so quickly. We only met a few days ago. I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know that I don't want to stop feeling what I feel when I'm with her."

A soft smile graced his lips. "I want her to stay in my life."

Jonathan smiled over at his son, softly, knowing exactly what he was going through since he had experienced this very feeling when he was falling in love with his beautiful wife all those years ago. Of course, his son wasn't falling for her quite yet, but if she stayed—if they continued down this path, that's exactly what would happen, and honestly, it would probably be the best thing that could ever happen to him.

She would be the best thing for him.

"You know," he started, as he walked over towards the couch, and sat down directly next to his son. "Your mother and I knew this was going to happen, of course, we didn't think it would happen so soon, but we both believe that she is going to be very good for you, and I think you might be good for her too."

"Thanks, dad." He shook his head from side to side with a soft smile gracing his lips before he looked back over at him. "We were both a little nervous about your reactions, but I had a feeling that you would be okay with whatever this turns into."

"We might be okay with this, but that doesn't mean the rules are gonna change just because you two are enjoying exploring your relationship. That means you two won't be sleeping in the same room together. She will be sleeping in your room tonight, and that also means that what happened tonight does not happen inside this house again."

Clark nodded at him, knowing that he was being deadly serious with him right now. "I promise, dad."

"Good." He clapped his hand down onto his shoulder, and squeezed, softly. "Now, let's finish cleaning this living room, so we all can get some kind of sleep tonight."

"Right," he said, as he quickly stood up with his father, and continued cleaning the mess he had made with a smile lingering on his lips, not only from the conversation with his father, but also from the feeling of complete and utter happiness that was consuming every fiber within his being.

His parents accepted his fast-growing relationship with Lois.

Lois was slowly letting down those walls inside of her heart.

He felt happier than he's ever felt in his entire life.

And he never, ever wanted to stop feeling this way.

One hour later, Clark and Lois were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching whatever movie was playing on the television, as they finished off their pancakes. By the time they all finished cleaning and by the time they told both Martha and Jonathan goodnight, which included him making it perfectly clear that she would be sleeping in his room and not downstairs with him, the food they had made was ice cold, but they honestly didn't care.

They were just enjoying spending some more time together.

Clark glanced over at her as soon as he finished off his plate of food, and grinned to himself when he noticed that she had some maple syrup on her lips after she took her last bite. "You have something right there."

Lois frowned, slightly before she grabbed a napkin off the table, intending to wipe it off herself, but was stopped by him grabbing her hand, gently, and was completely caught off guard by his next words—his next maneuver.

"Let me." He slowly leaned forward, his eyes never leaving hers before he swiped his tongue across her lips, slowly, effectively removing the syrup from her lips.

She stared at him for the longest time, feeling completely and utterly surprised by his sudden move, especially since it was the last thing she ever expected him to do, bust as soon as he started moving away from her, she hooked her hand being his head, and crashed her lips against his, not allowing him to get away with teasing her like that.

"It looks like I'm not the only one who can be a tease," she told him with a smirk when she pulled away from him.

Instead of responding to her, he just crashed his lips back against hers, wanting nothing more than to wrap her inside of his embrace for as long as he possibly could. He rested one of his hands on the back of her head, his fingers getting lost in her endless strands, as he tilted his head to one side, slightly, deepening their kiss, while his other hand slowly traveled down the side of her body until he reached her waist, and squeezed, softly, effectively pulling her closer to him.

She smiled against his lips, as she curled her fingers into his dark locks, tightly, loving the way he groaned, softly from the sensation before she nibbled on his lower lip, coaxing him to open up to her, and relished in the feeling that rushed throughout her when their tongues met, swirling and twirling around each other, perfectly.

They pulled away from each other, simultaneously, and rested their foreheads together, softly, as they attempted catching their breath from that mind-blowing kiss.

Once he felt like he could breath properly again, he pulled away from her, slightly, and stared directly into her eyes, loving the fact that he could see what he felt inside shining right back at him. "Is it just me or is that getting more and more intense every single time?"

She chuckled, softly at that. "Guess that's what happens when two people feel the same way about each other."

"I never want that feeling to go away." He rested one of his hands on the side of her face, as he stared deeply into those hazel orbs of hers. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you in my life."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Her smile dropped, slightly. "We're in for quite the battle. My father, Chloe, Lana—"

"And we'll get what we both want," he interrupted her before bumping his shoulder against hers, playfully. "But in the meantime, we should just finish this ridiculous movie you turned on. I mean, we have to fall asleep at some point or else we might sleep through all the excitement tomorrow."

Lois rolled her eyes at that. "If only it was that easy, Smallville. If only."

Clark chuckled, softly before he leaned back on the couch, rising his arm, slightly, so she could lean back against him, and wrapped both of his arms around her smaller body when she rested her back against his chest, both of them enjoying this moment more than anything.

So many different things were happening around them, but they felt content just wrapped up in each other's embraces, and deep down inside they knew that it would always be like this between them.

They would always feel this way, even when the world was crashing down around them.

_**It's been over one month since I posted an update for this story or my other one, Always & Forever, but life has been a little crazy the past few weeks, but I'm hoping things will start to go back to normal, so I can start posting more regularly. **_

_**This chapter was basically just a family fluff piece before getting into everything that's going to happen in the next few chapters, but I can say that Clark and Lois definitely have a few more obstacles to face. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter eleven **_


	13. Chapter Twelve

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Twelve: **_

Miles and miles away from the small-town of Kansas, Sam Lane was sitting down inside of his office on the Military base in Metropolis with a frown etched onto his features, as his mind was consumed with nothing other than the interrogation he had just encountered with the man who had apparently been making his daughters life a living hell in the few days they've been in this city.

Of course, he had already come to the conclusion that the only reason his daughter was mixed up with one of the most dirtiest cops was because she never returned to base like she was supposed to the night he caught her at the Museum, but honestly the fact that his daughter had once again disobeyed one of his direct orders wasn't what was making him feel this intense and overpowering frustration.

It was the fact that he had no choice but to release the man, who would undoubtedly keep antagonizing his daughter until he got exactly what he wanted.

They didn't have enough information or proof to even hold him for the full forty-eight hours.

It was just his daughters word over this rogue cop, and unfortunately the proper authorities would believe him over her in a heartbeat even though she was the daughter of a Four Star General, but no matter what he would make sure that that man didn't come near her again.

They would be leaving this city—this state in a few days anyways.

All he had to do was make sure she didn't leave…again.

A loud knock echoing from the wooden door across the room from him interrupted his thoughts, effectively bringing his focus back to the reason he was sitting inside of his office at this time of night before he quickly put out his cigar, not wanting the young man he's known for years to be engulfed by his terribly bad habit, and bellowed out, "Come in."

Wes Keenan slowly made his way into the office after hearing his gruff voice, and moved a little closer to him before saluting even though he was feeling more than a little confused at the reason he wanted to speak to him at this hour, especially since he wasn't one of his soldiers.

At least not yet.

"At ease, Wes. You're not one of my men. You don't need to salute me."

"You wanted to speak with me?"

He nodded. "I need to speak with my daughter about this Phelan character. She needs to hear everything that happened from me and from me alone, but I figured that after our last conversation she would appreciate a friendly face instead of one of my men or myself for that matter."

Wes instantly felt his heart beginning to race inside of his chest faster and faster from the not so simple request this man, who he feared more than he would care to admit, was asking of him before he attempted coming up with the best lie that he would believe since she wasn't currently here and she probably wasn't coming back anytime soon either.

Of course, he could just be honest with him.

He could tell him that his daughter was gone again.

But…

He couldn't—wouldn't do that to his best friend.

Even though he had made it perfectly clear that the second her father questioned him he wouldn't lie to him, he still couldn't take away the obvious happiness she was feeling just because he was terrified of her father.

It was pretty apparent that she was happy, hell, this was the first time in a long time he has witnessed this specific side to her, actually, this would be the first time since the day her father sent her sister away.

She had spoken from her heart—she had that awfully familiar determined expression plastered across her face when she refused to come back with him—she had pure emotion lingering in those hazel eyes of hers, but it was more than that. It was like everything she was feeling was practically radiating from her soul, and he knew without a doubt that it had everything to do with the tall dark-haired man she was choosing to spend her time with.

And it wasn't one of her silly crushes.

He knew this woman better than she knew herself, and it was quite obvious that whatever was happening between the two of them was something that neither of them expected to happen.

Of course, he might not particularly like the fact that she had put him in a situation like this, but he also understood that she wanted to spend as much time with this man as possible, and he would do pretty much anything for his best friend.

Even lying to her father.

"You want me to bring her to your office?"

He nodded again before a frown took over his features not only from his reaction, but also from how long it had taken him to respond. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Uh, no, sir, that's not, um, going to be a problem," he stammered out before taking a deep breath, attempting to calm the anxious nerves that were literally eating him alive right now. "It's just that, um, after we returned to base with that cop Lois was pretty exhausted from everything, and I sensed even a little sad. I think she passed out as soon as she laid down, but I can wake her up—"

"No, that won't be necessary," he interrupted him. "I'll just talk to her in the morning."

Wes nodded before quickly walking out of the room with a heavy heart, not able to stop his mind from wondering what was going to happen tomorrow when Sam Lane not only figured out that she wasn't here, but also realized that he had lied straight to his face.

It wasn't going to be good, he thought to himself, as he made his way towards his quarters, knowing full-well that all hell would be breaking loose tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning back in Smallville, the bright sunlight shined directly inside the large bay windows of the yellow farmhouse, effectively disturbing Lois, who was sleeping quite peacefully in the living room on the couch directly on top of the man that had changed everything for her in a matter of days, causing her face to scrunch up, irritatingly, and slowly blink open her eyes even though waking up was the last thing she wanted to do right now before her hazel eyes landed on the sleeping handsome man beneath her, causing her frown to transform into a wide smile, as their entire night replayed inside of her head over and over again.

And what a night they shared, she thought to herself before glancing around her surroundings, intending to get off of this couch—off of him and make some coffee, while he slept, but as soon as her eyes came into contact with the top of the wooden storage chest on the other side of the room, she realized that they weren't laying on the couch anymore, actually, they weren't on anything solid whatsoever.

They were floating in mid-air!

She yelped, softly, and gripped onto him tighter, effectively stirring him awake with a frown slowly spreading out across his face from being ripped away from the beautiful dream he was having, but as soon as his sleepy aquamarine eyes landed on her beautiful face, he couldn't stop himself from smiling, widely, not noticing the slightly petrified expression lingering on her face.

"Good morning, beautiful."

Lois stared at him like he had completely lost his mind, not able to believe that he didn't even realize that they were floating three feet off of the ground before she clung onto him a little tighter, having a feeling that once he did realize that they weren't on solid ground they weren't just gonna float back down to the couch naturally.

"It would be a good morning if, you know, we weren't literally defying all the laws of gravity at this moment in time." When he just simply frowned up at her, she rolled her eyes, dramatically before pointing one of her fingers down towards the ground. "Look down, Clark."

Once he glanced down towards the ground, his eyes widened to the size of saucers from the simple fact that they were literally floating in mid-air, and just like that they started falling back down towards the ground, causing him to quickly tighten his arms around her body, while she buried her head into the side of his neck before they crashed back down onto the couch, breaking every single one of the wooden legs, as splinters of wood flew in every which direction.

"Oh my god! Lois! Are you okay?"

Lois very, very slowly removed her face from the side of his neck, her eyes glancing at the several pieces of wood surrounding them before she picked up one of the couch legs, and locked her eyes onto his with an incredulous expression slowly spreading out across her face. "What the hell just happened?"

"Um, well, we, uh, floated."

"No duh, Sherlock," she replied sarcastically with a roll of her eyes before her facial expression transformed into a more serious one, as she tilted her head to one side, slightly, her eyes staring straight into his own like she was looking straight through his soul. "I mean, how the hell did just do that? Why didn't you tell me you could fly?"

"I can't fly, Lois."

She quirked a brow at him. "Really? Cause our current predicament says something entirely different."

"I can't fly, Lois," he repeated himself, but when he noticed that she was going to open her mouth to contradict him once again, he quickly pressed one of his fingers against her lips, stopping her from uttering a single word before he continued, "I'm being serious. We might not have been flying, but we were floating."

"Floating. Flying. Same difference," she told him, as she folded her hands underneath her chin before her eyes stared directly into his, questioningly. "Why didn't you tell me you could float?"

"Because it's not like it's one of my abilities, Lois. This is only the second time it's happened."

That piqued her attention, immensely before she grinned, widely at him, as her eyes glinted at him, teasingly. "So, what makes this happen exactly? I mean, what does one think about to float?"

Clark immediately felt his heart quicken its pace inside of his chest—felt his cheeks grow hotter and hotter from her questions before he looked away from her, knowing she would be able to see the truth just by looking into his eyes, and there was no way he could tell her the truth.

He couldn't tell her that he had been dreaming about her—about them.

"Um, nothing. It, uh, doesn't matter."

Lois grinned even wider from the apparent nervousness he was experiencing just from her simple questions, and even though there was a small part of herself that wanted to know what he had been dreaming about—thinking about to make something like this happen, she wasn't going to force him to tell her anything.

She wanted to do everything right with him.

"Fine. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I think there is one thing we can agree on."

"And what's that?"

Her facial expression quickly transformed into one of complete and utter bewilderment, as she waved the wooden leg of the couch in the air before tossing it a few inches away from them. "We definitely have a knack for making a mess of this house."

Clark slowly glanced around their surroundings, instantly realizing that they had once again messed up his parents' house, and it wasn't even twenty-four hours after the first time before he dropped his head down onto the arm of the couch with a heavy sigh. "You would be right about that."

"But on the brightside of things, we could probably clean all of this up before your parents come downstairs."

"Oh my god!"

"So much for that idea," he whispered from the familiar sound of his mother's voice before he slowly sat up with Lois still resting most of her body against his, and locked his eyes onto his mother, who was glancing between the two of them with a slightly shocked and amused expression plastered across her face. "Mom…I can explain."

"I'm sure you can, Clark, but um…" she trailed off, as a bubble of laughter escaped past her slightly parted lips, but she quickly pushed it down to the deepest part of herself, knowing that they only had a few seconds to prepare for the worst before continuing, "I'm not the one you should be worried about."

Clark and Lois gulped, loudly from those words, both of them knowing exactly who she was referring to, as they instantly recalled how upset he had gotten last night from their little disaster throughout most of the downstairs, but before they could say anything—before they could do anything the man in question appeared in the foyer, crushing all their hopes of stopping him from seeing this, and watched quite terrifyingly while his facial expression transformed from calmness to complete and utter shock.

This wasn't going to be good, they thought to themselves, simultaneously.

Jonathan glanced around the entire living room with widened eyes before they landed on the two people responsible for destroying his couch, and attempted figuring out the best way to handle this situation, but had absolutely no idea what to say to them.

It was quite obvious that this was going to keep happening.

Even if he didn't exactly agree with his house being destroyed every single time they were alone, he knew that he was going to have to get used to this—used to them. Things might be a little uncertain right now, especially where their future was concerned, but he had a feeling deep inside that Lois Lane was going to be in their lives for a very, very long time, and that was amazing not only for his son but also for her family.

But…

That didn't mean he was going to allow them to destroy his house every single time he left them alone.

"You know what, I don't think I even want to know what happened." He glanced between the two of them with a stern expression slowly spreading out across his face before he motioned his hands over the entirety of the couch. "You'll be fixing this couch before doing anything else today, Clark, and you'll be helping him, Lois."

They both nodded at him, feeling more than a little thankful that he didn't seem as upset as they thought he might have been.

Martha watched her husband disappear into the kitchen with a soft smile gracing her lips before she returned her gaze to the two people, who were currently looking at her with slightly worried expressions plastered across their faces, and smiled, reassuringly at them. "Just get ready for breakfast. We'll deal with the couch afterwards."

Clark and Lois smiled, softly, as they watched her disappear into the kitchen, and sighed in complete relief before their eyes locked onto each other, their equivalent feelings radiating back at each other.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would."

Clark gave her a disbelieving look. "Your joking, right? You might want to believe that that will be the end of this, but I can guarantee that he will be having a strict conversation with both of us. My dad can usually deal with a lot of things, especially when it comes to my abilities, but this is different, so just be prepared."

"Well, so much for that," she said with a heavy sigh before a slightly worried expression took over her features. "Do you think he'll talk to both of us at the same time? Or are we going to get separate lectures?"

"Knowing my dad, he'll talk to us apart from each other." He pushed her, slightly with his hands, attempting to lighten the darkened atmosphere between them. "But don't worry too much, Lois. He'll go easy on you, but me on the other hand is a completely different story."

"Yeah…your totally screwed," she told him, teasingly before she moved a little closer to him, her eyes glinting at him, mischievously. "I mean, this is your fault after all."

"My fault? How the hell is this my fault?"

She gave him an obvious look. "Well, you are the one that is having sex dreams and floating five feet off the ground. I was just an oblivious participant in this little accident of yours."

"It was not a sex dream."

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, Smallville." When he just rolled his eyes at her, her demeanor changed into a more serious one, as she once again locked her questioning hazel eyes onto him. "So, um, how does that happen exactly? I mean, what do you dream about to make it happen? Does it happen every single time you sleep?"

Clark couldn't help but chuckle at her rambling of questions.

It was quite obvious that she was really interested in learning how every single one of his abilities work, hell, if she wasn't asking him questions he would probably be a little worried, but even though he didn't want to tell her the truth—didn't want to tell her that he had been dreaming about the first night they met, he also wanted her to know him completely.

No matter what, he would answer every single one of her questions, even if he was uncertain of some of the answers.

"No, Lois. It doesn't happen every single time or we would have woken up much different the first night you stayed here." He smiled, softly at her before continuing, "I don't know what makes it happen. This is only the second time its happened, but both times its happened because I was dreaming of something that made me extremely happy."

Lois smiled, softly at that, but it quickly fell when a particular thought crossed her mind, which was already running rampant from everything that had happened this morning before she jumped up onto her knees, excitedly, as her enthusiastic hazel eyes locked onto his equally confused ones. "Oh my god! Clark! Do you know what this means?"

"That I have bad sleeping habits?"

"No, Clark," she said with a roll of her eyes before she pressed further, "This means that one day maybe weeks from now or maybe even years from now you'll be able to fly."

"Fly?" He croaked out with widened eyes before he shook his head from side to side, not able to believe something like that actually happening. "Just because I've floated a few times it doesn't mean I'm going to fly."

"Of course it means you're going to be able to fly one day. I mean, you have all these amazing abilities, and from what you've told me you keep developing more, so why not add flying to the list. It might not happen right away, but I'm telling you right now that one day you're going to be soaring high above the clouds." A thoughtful expression took over her features before she grinned like a Cheshire cat at him, every single thing she was feeling resonant on her face. "You know, we could always test this theory. I mean, you have superstrength and superspeed, so if it doesn't work then you could easily land without hurting yourself."

He quirked a brow at her, not understanding what she was attempting to get across. "And how do you suppose we test this theory of yours?"

"Jump off something really high," she responded like it was the most reasonable thing she's ever thought of in her entire life.

His eyes widened to the size of saucers from her words before he stared at her like she had completely lost her mind, and shook his head from side to side once again, not wanting to do anything of the sorts. "Have you lost your mind? I'm not jumping off of anything."

"Why not? It's not like you could actually get hurt, and who knows with my help you just might be able to take off to the skies."

"It's never gonna happen, Lane."

"And why the hell not, Kent?" When he just remained silent, she could see the truth lingering in those aquamarine eyes of his, and she wanted to laugh more than anything at what she was seeing staring right back at her, but she also understood that this was probably a fear he's dealt with his entire life.

And she had a feeling that this particular fear was keeping him grounded.

Not for long, she thought to herself.

"Are you seriously telling me that you're afraid of heights?"

Clark quickly looked away from her when he could feel the red, hot blush creeping across his cheeks, and even though he knew that she was right, hell, his fear of heights was something he has dealt with his entire life, there was no way in hell he was admitting the truth to her.

Even if she had already figured it out.

"I'm not afraid of heights."

She rose a brow at him, knowing that he was lying through his teeth. "Oh really? Is that right? Well, in that case, prove it."

"Prove it?"

She nodded. "Prove to me that you're not afraid of heights."

"I don't have to prove anything," he scoffed.

"You just did," she replied with a teasing smile, loving how easy it was to rile this one man. "You can admit it, you know. You can admit that you're a scaredy cat."

Clark growled low in his throat from her teasing nature before lunging towards her, intending to make her take back her teasing words, but she quickly dodged his arms and disappeared up the stairs with him hot on her trail, their jubilant laughter echoing throughout the entire yellow farmhouse.

Downstairs, the sound of laughter and overzealous giggling coming from the two people, who were quite obviously feeling nothing except complete and utter happiness echoed throughout the entire house, causing Martha to continuously smile every single time she heard them, while Jonathan kept glancing up towards the ceiling every single time he heard them until he finally had enough, and turned his attention from the stairs towards his beautiful wife. "What could possibly be so funny?"

Martha grinned even more from his question, but instead of turning around to face him, she just continued making their breakfast. "Who knows, but you should know better than anyone that anything is funny when your with the person you want to be with."

"We were never that bad."

"No, we were never that bad, but we also grew up in different times, besides their dealing with a lot more than just their feelings for each other."

Jonathan nodded, completely agreeing with her, but when he heard their flamboyant laughter echoing down the stairs once again his frustration from the mess the two of them had made within two days came rushing back to the surface. "How long are we going to allow this to happen?"

"Allow what to happen?"

"How long are we going to allow those two to keep this up?"

"You mean, are we going to stop them from enjoying spending time with each other?"

Jonathan stared at her, unblinkingly with an expression that revealed he wasn't thrilled with her answer. "You know what I mean, Martha. I don't care if they spend time together, hell, if we even tried separating them it would nearly be an impossible mission. They would just sneak behind everyone's backs, but I'm not sure our house can take much more of this."

"This house has taken a lot more than a broken couch, Jonathan. Or do you not remember how many walls, doors and furniture we've had to fix over the years?"

"I'm being serious, Martha," he said with a clear tone of frustration.

"And so am I, Jonathan." She slowly turned around to face her husband, and made her way over towards him before she rested her hands directly on top of his own. "If you want to have that conversation with them then go right ahead, but it's not going to accomplish anything. They both believe that they have limited time together, so they're doing what every other couple would do. They're making the most of their time."

A heavy sigh escaped past his closed lips from her words, and he knew she had a point, but that stubborn fatherly trait didn't want to let this go—didn't want to just ignore this. "So, we do nothing?"

She nodded. "For the time being. Don't worry, Jonathan. You'll get your chance to lecture them for their wild behavior, but for now can you just let them enjoy this time their spending together? Once she officially lives here then you can lecture them all you want."

He rose a brow at her words. "You actually believe that her father will let her stay?"

"I don't think, Jonathan. I know he will."

"That's a lot of optimism I'm hearing. We haven't even met the man yet, so what makes you think he'll allow his daughter to stay here?"

"Because I have hope." She smiled, softly at him, as she intertwined her fingers with his. "You should know that a parent will do whatever it takes to make their child happy. He'll do the right thing for his daughter."

"And what if he doesn't?"

"Then we'll make him see that she's happy here. My son has finally found someone that he can be himself around. I'm not just gonna allow that to slip away from him."

Jonathan tilted his head to one side, slightly, as he stared into her eyes, questioningly. "Why didn't you ever say any of this about Lana? You know that he's had a crush on that girl since he was just a kid, so what makes Lois so different?"

"That's easy. Lana and Lois are two completely different people. I might have known Lana longer than Lois, but that doesn't change the facts. She is going to be the one that makes him become the person he's supposed to become. It's already happening, and they've only known each other a few days. You can't stand there and tell me that you don't see it."

"Of course I see it, Martha, but that doesn't mean I agree with what their doing to our house. First it was the flour mess last night and now the couch. We can't just keep allowing this to happen."

"And I agree with you, Jonathan. They both need to understand that there will be ground rules as long as they are inside of this house, but I think that lecture can wait until after all of this is over. Just let them enjoy this time together."

Jonathan sighed, heavily once again before throwing his hands up in defeat, knowing that he wasn't going to win this argument. "Fine. I guess your right."

"Just like always," he added when she gave him a look.

"Did I just hear that right? Did you just say that mom was always right? Out loud?"

Jonathan quickly spun around at the sound of his sons voice echoing from directly behind him, and smiled, softly at the woman standing next to him before he locked his eyes onto his son. "Don't worry, son. One day when your deeply in love, married and have children of your own you'll learn that there will be times where you must accept defeat, and this just happens to be one of those times."

His facial expression dropped, slightly before he glanced between the two of them with a sternness lingering in his eyes. "But neither of you will be facing any of that anytime soon."

Martha tried her hardest not to laugh, outwardly from the way her son and the woman she already considered part of her family glanced at each other, briefly before quickly looking away from each other with soft blushes brushing across their cheeks, but it was merely impossible when her own husband was grinning from what his words had caused between the two of them. "Don't give them a stroke, Jonathan."

She smiled, softly between the two people, who were quite obviously feeling more than a little awkward from her lovely husbands comments. "He was joking, kids, but your father does have a point, Clark. You'll learn that more often than not your mother, future wife and daughter or daughters will usually be right about certain things."

"And you learn not to argue with them on those particular subjects," Jonathan added before moving a little closer to him, and whispered, "It never ends well."

"What was that?" Martha questioned him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Nothing, dear."

Lois couldn't stop herself from grinning at their bantering, actually, it reminded her of all the times she would watch her mother and father bicker back and forth in the kitchen while they cooked together, and even though there was a small part of herself that hated being reminded of the times when she used to be happy with all of her family, she was also glad that Martha and Jonathan had such an amazing bond just like her parents did.

It was something she wanted for herself one day.

"You know, I think they might be right, Smallville. My parents were the same exact way."

Clark glanced over at her with a skeptical expression slowly spreading out across his face. "Well, I can guarantee that that will never happen."

She narrowed her eyes at him, slightly. "Oh really? So, you don't think any woman could ever make you succumb to them?"

He shook his head, slightly with a slow growing grin gracing his lips.

"We'll see about that," she voiced out loud before eyeing him up and down with an even wider grin forming on her face.

Clark grinned just as widely from her teasing words before he crossed his arms over his chest, and smirked over at her. "Is that a challenge I hear lingering in that voice of yours?"

"Damn straight, farm boy."

"Language!"

"Sorry," she mumbled, softly before smiling over at him, innocently.

Jonathan smiled right back at her, but it quickly fell when an particular thought occurred to him, one that had been on his mind all day yesterday, but he had been too preoccupied with the two people standing directly in front of him to even think straight until now, and immediately locked his eyes onto his son. "Clark, has, um, has Phelan tried to contact you?"

Clark and Lois immediately glanced over at each other from his question, their eyes locking onto each other, as they shared the same exact thought…they couldn't tell them what happened last night.

It wasn't that they didn't think they deserved to know everything that had happened, but it was the fact that they wanted to make sure this was completely over before they told them anything.

He glanced back over at his father. "Don't worry, dad. I think he's out of our lives forever."

Martha rose a brow at that, not liking the way they had looked at each other or the way her son seemed to believe this was all over, but before she could utter a single word there was a loud knock on their front door.

Jonathan frowned, slightly, as he wondered, internally who could possibly be here this early in the morning, but that thought quickly vanished into thin air when he noticed two police officers standing on the porch through the screen, and quickly opened the door for them. "Ethan. Bob. What's going on?"

"We have a warrant," Ethan informed him before he sighed, heavily from having to do this to one of his oldest friends. "It's a warrant to search your property, Jonathan."

"A warrant?" He reiterated with a frown slowly forming on his face before he moved to the side to allow them inside. "Come on in. What's the warrant for, Ethan?"

Once he was inside of the house, he glanced between Martha, Clark and the woman he's never had the pleasure of meeting, hating that he had to do this to all of them before he locked his eyes back onto his friend. "We got a tip from the Metropolis Police Department."

All four of them glanced at each other, nervously from his words, every single one of them having a feeling that the tip came from someone they wanted out of their lives, desperately, but before any of them could utter a single word, another police officer walked into the house. "You better come and take a look at this."

As soon as every single one of them made it inside of the barn, they came face to face with a man none of them recognized dead on a pile of hay with what looked like a bullet wound in his chest before Ethan took another deep breath, and turned back around towards them. "Looks like he was shot in the heart. You want to explain to me what a dead body is doing in your barn, Jonathan?"

Jonathan glanced between the body and his friend a few times before he locked his eyes onto him, which clearly showed that he had absolutely no idea what was going on or who this man even was. "I have no idea, Ethan. I've never seen that man in my entire life."

The same exact police officer, who had lead them inside of the barn moved a little closer to the body before holding up a plastic bag, which had a gun sealed inside of it. "And we found this hidden underneath the seat of the truck."

"That is not my gun, and I have no idea how it ended up in my truck."

Ethan sighed even heavier from this new piece of evidence, and even though he had a feeling deep inside of his gut that something wasn't right here, he couldn't just ignore this.

He had no choice but to do the last thing he ever wanted to do…arrest one of his friends.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan, but we're gonna have to place you under arrest."

Clark quickly snapped his head towards his father with an expression of pure disbelief from those words, not able to believe that this was happening right now. "Dad…"

Jonathan gave him a soft but strong smile. "It's okay, Clark. Just call Bill Ross and have him meet me at the police department."

As soon as Ethan started pulling Jonathan away, Clark quickly ran directly in front of them, stopping them from taking his father away from them. "No! Your not taking him!"

"Clark!" He yelled just as loudly, and once he had his undivided attention, he continued, "I need you to stay here and I need you to be strong. Both your mother and Lois need you to stay strong for them, okay?"

He nodded, knowing that his father was right—knowing that he needed to be strong for his entire family, but as soon as they started pulling him towards the police cruiser, that feeling of dread consumed him once again before he started rushing towards them again, not wanting to lose his father.

"Clark! Don't!" Lois shouted, as she gripped onto his arm, not allowing him to take another step in their direction, and pulled him back towards her until he was facing her. "You can't stop them, Clark. They're just doing their job, and now we need to find a way to get him out of this, but we can't do that if your behind bars too."

Martha spoke for the first time since walking into this barn, "Lois is right, Clark. We can't do anything that will make this any worse."

Clark glanced between the two of them, not able to believe that they were just going to allow this to happen, but deep inside he knew that they were right about this.

They needed to do something to help him.

Not make matters worse.

"How are we supposed to get him out? All the evidence is stacked against him right now."

"We go after the man who did this," Lois told him with a smile.

"Phelan," he whispered with an angry scowl and gritted teeth.

Martha moved a little closer to them with an soft smile lingering on her face from the way this woman could make her son see reason better than anyone else before resting her hands on each of their arms. "I'm going to follow in the car. Just promise that whatever you do please, please be careful. I think this family has had enough heartache for one day."

"We promise." She gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "I'll call Chloe and have her meet you there. You shouldn't be alone right now."

"Thank you, Lois," she voiced her appreciation before rushing out of the barn.

Lois slowly turned her attention back towards the man, who was even more anxious than he was a few seconds ago, and intertwined her hands with his, forcing him to lock his emotion-filled eyes onto her own. "It's going to okay, Clark. Why don't you head inside and cool off for a bit? I'm gonna call Chloe and Wes. We're gonna get your dad out of there, okay?"

He just nodded before making his way back towards the house, knowing that he needed a cool head if they were going to get anywhere, but even though he knew that he needed to find a way to calm down, he couldn't—he couldn't because his father was locked up when it should be Phelan that was in jail.

And just like that the anger came bubbling back up to the surface before he pounded one of the support beams with his fist when he walked inside of the kitchen, breaking it in half.

"So much for calming down," Lois said, as she walked into the farmhouse to find him pacing back and forth inside of the kitchen with his fists clenching and unclenching before she ran her fingers over the splintered wood. "Destroying this house isn't going to solve anything, actually, it's only going to cause your father to be even more frustrated with us."

He just continued pacing back and forth. He knew what she was attempting to do. She was attempting to calm him down enough, so they could talk this out, and come up with a solid plan that would work, but it was merely impossible when his father was on his way to jail.

"That was quick. Did you get ahold of Chloe?"

She nodded. "She had a lot of questions, but she's on her way down to the station now with Uncle Gabe."

"And what about Wes?"

"He didn't answer, but I left him a voicemail. He has a lot of explaining to do. This was supposed to work. I don't understand how my father could have released him, and I really don't understand why Wes didn't call me the second it happened."

"He probably had his reasons." He stopped pacing before glancing over at her for the first time since she walked back inside of this house. "He probably didn't want your father finding out that you weren't there."

"Maybe, but it's not like it matters much now. My father probably already knows that I'm gone, and if he finds me before we find Phelan them I'm not gonna be much help." A saddened expression took over her features. "I just want to help you with your dad."

Clark quickly closed the space between them, and rested both of his hands on her shoulders, comfortingly. "Don't worry, Lois. We'll take care of Phelan and get my father out of jail before your father finds us."

"Are you sure about that?" Phelan questioned them even though he wasn't expecting a proper answer from them, as he walked inside of the farmhouse with an expression of pure victory lingering on his face. "That's what the two of you get for trying to be heroes. You're a pretty smart boy, Clark. Tossing that safe was pretty wise on your part, and you, Miss Lane, surprised me the most with your little stunt last night, but you both forget that I've been doing this a long time."

Clark growled low in his throat from his menacing words before taking a step closer to him, effectively placing himself between him and the woman he wanted to protect more than anything even though she was more than capable of taking care of herself. "Who's that man?"

"Did you really think that you could double cross me? My job is full of scenarios. You never enter a crack house with one plan. You go in with ten! That's how you survive! The truth is, neither of you left me with a lot of options!"

"I want my dad out of jail!" Clark yelled.

"You complicate my life I'm gonna complicate yours!" He yelled right back.

Lois quickly grabbed a hold of his arm when she noticed that he was intending on lunging towards him, and moved a little closer to the man that just wouldn't leave them alone with an anger-filled expression slowly spreading out across her face. "Why are you doing this? All Clark did was throw a safe on your car. I'm the one that brought the Military to you. I'm the one that got you arrested. I'm the one you want revenge against—"

"Lois, stop," Clark interrupted her, as he intertwined one of her hands with his own, not liking where this was going whatsoever.

She completely ignored his warning. "So, how about you leave this family alone and deal with the person you really have an issue with."

Phelan grinned, sadistically from the way she wanted to protect her family and friends before moving a little closer to her. "Your right. I do have an issue with you, but in order to hurt you I had to hurt your little boyfriend, which meant throwing your father in jail, Clark, besides, I still need you to do something for me."

An angry growl escaped past his throat before he lunged towards him, and gripped the lapels of his jacket in his hands before slamming him against another support beam. "Call them now and tell them what you did!"

He laughed, loudly at his request. "What is it, Clark? You wanna kill me? You think that's the answer to all your problems?"

"I want him out!"

"Then we all want something. Only the two of you have a lot more to lose, especially you, Clark." Once he released his hold on him, he straightened out his jacket before taking a small step towards the front door. "I don't want anymore surprises. I'm gonna allow both of you to think about last night. Stay close. I'll be in touch."

As soon as he disappeared from their sights, Lois felt all that anger, guilt and grief that has been very slowly eating her away from the moment that man came into their lives rush to the surface before she curled her hand into a fist, and attempted punching one of the support beams just like she would always do when she was upset about something, but Clark quickly caught her fist in his hand, stopping her from hurting herself.

"Careful there, Lois. We don't need to add a trip to the hospital to the list of things we're already dealing with."

"I don't care."

"But I do."

Lois stared at him for the longest time, slowly feeling all that anger and grief escape from her, as she stared into his reassuring aquamarine eyes just like it always did when he was looking at her like that, but the guilt still remained.

Why wasn't he blaming her?

This was her fault after all.

If she would have just listened to everyone then Jonathan wouldn't be in jail right now. Of course, they would probably still be dealing with Phelan just like they were now, but at least the man she already pictured as a father figure wouldn't be behind bars.

"Why aren't you upset with me?"

Clark frowned at her, slightly. "Why would I be upset with you?"

"Because this is all my fault."

He stared at her with slightly widened eyes from those particular words, and he honestly couldn't believe that she thought he would be angry with her for attempting to be helpful in a very stressful situation.

It wasn't her fault.

He could see that, so why couldn't she see it too?

"Lois, none of this is your fault—"

"Yes, it is, Clark," she interrupted him before she started pacing back and forth in front of him, not noticing the way he was smiling at her as she spoke, "If I would have just listened to you and your parents we wouldn't be dealing with this. Your father wouldn't be behind bars and my father would still probably be clueless about my whereabouts, but because I couldn't just leave well enough alone my father will probably find me before we even have the chance to stop Phelan and get your father out of jail, so yes, Clark. It is my fault, and—"

Clark quickly gripped both sides of her face with his hand before he crashed his lips against hers, stopping her from uttering another word.

Lois' eyes widened, slightly from his sudden and unexpected maneuver, but it didn't take her very long to respond to him.

He was just too irresistible.

When he finally pulled away from her, she refused to remove her eyes from his, as she tilted her head to one side, slightly. "What was that for?"

Clark smiled, softly over at her. "It was the only way I could get you to shut up."

Lois just smiled at him.

He slowly dropped his hands until he was cradling her smaller ones into his larger ones, and soothingly ran his thumbs over her knuckles. "Now, I don't really know or understand why you are blaming yourself for this. You were doing what you thought was the right thing to do. You were just trying to protect me. I understand that and I know for a fact that my parents will understand too. Your not to blame for this. Phelan is."

He pulled her even closer to him. "Lois, you might think you did something wrong by involving the Military, but I think otherwise. The only reason I've gotten this far is because of you. I honestly don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

She couldn't stop herself from chuckling at his words since she knew exactly what he was attempting to do, and for the first time ever it was working. "You would be doing the same exact thing we're doing right now just without my perky commentary."

He chuckled, softly at that. "I happen to enjoy your perky commentary."

"Is that right?"

"Mhmm," he hummed, softly at her before resting his forehead ever so gently against hers, his eyes staring directly into her own. "So, can we agree that the only person to blame here is Phelan and Phelan alone?"

She nodded. "Speaking of, what are we gonna do about him?"

A heavy sigh escaped past his slightly parted lips. "I don't know, but we'll figure something out. The most important thing is proving that my father is innocent, but first things first. My father would probably appreciate not coming home to an even worse looking house."

"Right," she said, as she glanced over at the broken bean before she shook her head from side to side at the mere fact that they had the ability to destroy a house three times in less than twenty-four hours. "We really need to stop messing up this house."

"Your telling me." His smile fell, slightly, as he moved even closer to her, their chests mere inches away from each other. "Just promise that you'll stay with me. I meant it when I told you that I couldn't do any of this without you. Lois, I want-need you here."

She smiled, widely at that. "I promise, Clark. I wont leave your side."

He grinned just as widely at that, loving that she was the person he felt the most comfortable with, and he hoped that it would always remain this way.

He was always going to need her.

He was always going to want her.

_**This was a very difficult chapter to write. **_

_**I never enjoyed the fact that Jonathan was thrown in jail, but unfortunately it needed to happen for everything that's gonna happen in the next couple of chapters. **_

_**On a sadder note, the first part to this story is almost complete, so we only have a few chapters left before this story ends, but the sequel is coming along smoothly, so you won't have to wait too long for the continuation of this story. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter twelve **_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Thirteen: **_

On the base in Metropolis, Sam Lane was a man on a mission, as he strode towards his daughter's room, intending on having quite the lengthy conversation with her, not only about the man he was forced to release and the simple fact that she had gotten mixed up with such a man in the first place, but also about her uncanny ability to disobey his direct orders every single opportunity she could find.

And this time she was gonna listen to him.

Without knocking, he barged into her room, fully expecting to find her held up inside of her room since her best friend, Wes Keenan, had assured him that she hasn't left this room since they returned to base late last night, but what he found instead sent fiery hot shocks of anger throughout every single inch of his body.

Her room was spotless.

Her bed was made, never slept in.

And it looked exactly the way it did the day he left.

She was gone…again.

After glancing around her room several more times like he was just expecting her to appear, especially since tracking down his wayward daughter just like he's had to do a million times over again in the past was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now, he quickly stormed out of her room, and marched straight towards his large black SUV before speeding off base, intending to bring his daughter back, so they could leave the city that just held way too many memories for him.

If they were anywhere else, he would have had to track her cellphone or check her credit cars to find out exactly where she could have possibly gone just like all the other times he's had to do that when she repeatedly ignored his wishes, but this wasn't just some random city in some random state.

This was Metropolis.

She has many happy memories here—memories that were too painful for him.

The sooner they left the better, he thought to himself, fortunately, he knew exactly where she was, hell, she's probably been there ever since he ordered her to return to base at the Museum.

It was literally the only place she would go.

A heavy sigh escaped past his closed lips, as he drove as fast as possibly could towards Smallville with a heavy heart, knowing that ripping her away from her cousin and uncle was going to be extremely difficult, but they weren't staying here.

She wasn't staying here, especially not after all the trouble she had gotten herself into—trouble that she was still in.

Firstly, she disobeyed him the second he left base, then she disobeyed him again that same exact night when he explicitly told her to go back to base, and now she was gallivanting around some small-town with her cousin getting into all kinds of trouble.

What the hell was he going to do with her?

* * *

Clark and Lois slowly walked into the police station, as they felt nothing except complete and utter determination coursing through their veins, both of their eyes searching the room until they found Martha and Chloe talking to Bill Ross, the attorney who was taking on Jonathan's case, and quickly made their way over towards them, wanting to find out what was happening more than anything else.

"Mom, what's going on? Where's dad?"

Martha smiled, faintly between the two of them, glad to see them still sticking pretty close to each other even with everything that was going on before she sighed, softly, still not able to believe that this was happening—that her husband was behind bars for something he absolutely did not do, and she was stuck out here feeling more than just a little useless.

She wanted her husband back.

She wanted her family happy again.

"Your father is fine, Clark. We were with him not too long ago. He is strong, and he will get through this just like we will." When he simply nodded at her, she quickly pressed further with the information they also came here to find out. "Bill here is doing everything he can to prove that your father is innocent."

Lois rose a brow at that before she glanced over at the man in question with an expression of hopeful optimism. "You think you can do that?"

He nodded with the upmost confidence. "Yes, miss. I believe I can prove that Jonathan is innocent."

"How are you going to do that?" Clark questioned him.

"I'm gonna prove that he was set up." He glanced over at Martha for a few seconds, searching for permission to continue, and once he received of nod of approval from her, he returned his attention back towards the two teenagers standing in front of him. "All the signs are there. The body being in the barn, the gun in the truck…it all points to someone setting up Jonathan. I've already asked Jonathan, Martha and Chloe here, but I need to know if either of you know anyone, who would have motive to do something like this?"

"Phelan," Lois whispered underneath her breath through gritted teeth, so only the man standing next to her could hear her, not able to stop feeling that anger slowly start to build up inside of her once again.

Clark quickly grabbed her hand, causing her to look over at him, and gave her a warning look, as he squeezed her hand, reassuringly, wanting her to know that he felt just as angry as she did, but they couldn't tell anyone about Phelan.

It would only make things worse.

Once she squeezed his hand back and gave him a soft smile, he released her hand, knowing that she wouldn't allow her feelings about this situation to override what was the most important thing right now…his father.

"No, sir. We don't know anyone who could do something like this. My dad is just your run of the mill farmer."

"Don't I know it," he replied with a soft chuckle.

"How can we prove he was set up?"

"I'm working on that. For now just visit with your father, Clark."

Clark nodded, softly at him, while Lois turned all of her attention towards her cousin. "Where's Uncle Gabe?"

"He was called into work, so he had to leave."

"And what about Pete? Did you tell him what was going on?"

"That she did, and he wanted to be here," Bill answered for her." But I made him stay at school, which is exactly where the three of you should be right now."

"We're not going anywhere," all three of them replied, simultaneously, causing both Martha and Bill to grin, widely from their similar reactions to such a request.

"I figured as much, but there's not much the three of you can do other than just be here for him." He smiled at every single one of them. "Just sit tight and let me see if I can get him out on bail. That's the only thing we can hope for right now."

They all watched him disappear into one of the offices before Clark turned towards his mother, his eyes pleading with hope, as he locked them onto her. "Can I see him?"

Martha nodded before pointing towards the double doors down the hall.

He glanced over towards the doors before he locked his eyes onto the woman, who was literally the only reason he was getting through all of this with doing something—anything that would only make things for his family worse, mentally inviting her to come with him without having to utter one single word to her.

Lois couldn't stop the smile from gracing her lips at the simple thought of him wanting her to be with him even though they've literally spent all night and all morning together before she rested her one of her hands on the side of his arm. "Go ahead, Clark. I'm gonna try to get some more information on this side. Go see your dad. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

He smiled right back at her before he made his way towards those double doors, wanting nothing more than to just see his father.

Chloe visibly rose her brows, her eyes continuously glancing between the two of them, immediately taking notice of the way they were looking at each other, the way they were talking to each other, and most importantly, the way her cousin has just read his mind with just one simple look, and instantly knew that something had changed between the two of them since the last time she saw them together.

Just yesterday her cousin had been pissed at him for defending Lana once again, and now they were sharing silent messages with each other.

What the hell could have possibly changed in less than one day?

Deep down, she knew the answer to that question, actually, it's practically been staring her in the face ever since the first moment she saw those two in the same room together, but for some reason things were different between the two of them. She was used to the way they would look at each other—the way they would flirt with each other, even if they didn't know they were actually flirting with each other, but this was completely different than what she has become accustomed to.

It was almost like something had happened between them.

Ever since her cousin stepped foot into this town, she has been sticking pretty close to him, and he was doing the same exact thing, but now it was like they needed to be with each other. She had seen the way he had grabbed her hand—had seen the way she touched him—had seen the way they smiled at each other, which only made this entire situation even more confusing.

Lois was not the type of woman to just allow someone past all those walls she has surrounding her heart, but for some reason it felt like her best friend had broke through every single one of them in a matter of days. And Clark, he wasn't the type of guy that just revealed all his deepest, darkest secrets to someone he barely even knows.

He was the mysterious farm boy.

At least that's what she has always thought when it came to him, so why did it seem like her cousin knew and understood him better than anyone else? And why did she get the same exact feeling from him about her?

She didn't know, but she was going to find out.

"What the hell was all that about?"

"It was nothing," Lois told her with a wave of her hand, attempting to get her cousin off this particular subject.

It took only one look at her cousin to realize what was going through that head of hers.

There was a small part of herself that wanted to physically, mentally and emotionally berate herself for behaving so affectionate—so unlike what just a friend would do, especially since she had no idea how she was supposed to tell her that she wanted to be with her best friend, the man she still has feelings for, but there was no way she could or would regret being here for him.

He needed her.

She needed him.

And hopefully, it would remain that way for the foreseeable future.

"That didn't look like nothing, Lois."

"It's really nothing, Chloe," she repeated with a soft smile forming on her lips, attempting to reassure her even though it was breaking her heart to lie to her right now, but she couldn't tell her anything until all of this was over.

She couldn't tell her anything until she convinced her father to let her stay.

Martha, who had been listening to their conversation in complete and utter silence, quickly intervened when she noticed the spunky blonde she adored very much was seconds away from saying something else, which would undoubtedly start an argument between the two of them, especially since she knew for a fact that Lois was nowhere ready to tell her cousin what she had guessed would happen from the first moment she saw her sleeping on her son's chest.

And neither was Clark for that matter, but eventually they would have to tell her.

Chloe deserved to know the truth, even if it broke her heart.

"Chloe, um, would you mind grabbing some coffees for the three of us. We've all had a pretty eventful morning."

"Of course, Mrs. Kent," she told her with a soft smile before she locked her eyes onto her cousin, telling her that this conversation wasn't even close to being over, silently.

As soon as she was out of ear shot, Martha turned her entire body towards the woman directly in front of her with a questioning look crossing over her features. "When are you going to tell her the truth, honey?"

Lois stared at her, blankly for a few seconds, not able to believe just how sly this one woman could be, hell, she had actually believed her, but obviously she had other reasons for sending her cousin away before she shook her head, softly with a small smile gracing her lips. "Should've known you'd be the one to call me out."

"I've been wanting to have this conversation with both you and Clark ever since last night. Things have definitely changed between the two of you, and personally, it makes both Jonathan and I very happy to see the two of you so, well happy." Her facial expression dropped, slightly, as her gaze turned more serious. "But you need to be honest with Chloe, Lois before she finds out either by someone else or by catching you two doing something more than just sharing looks and soft touches herself."

"I know." A slightly terrified expression took over her features, as complete and utter worry filled her hazel eyes, and she honestly didn't know how she was even supposed to tell her something like that, especially since she knew that it was only going to break her heart. "What if she doesn't accept it? I don't want to hurt her, Martha."

"You're not going to, sweetheart unless you keep lying to her." She quickly reached out, and grabbed both of her hands, squeezing them, softly. "You need to be the one that tells her, Lois. Not Clark. Not anyone except you."

"I promise I'll tell her when all of this is over," she told her before sighing, heavily when the thought of her father finding her and what would happen if he refused to let her stay bombarded her mind. "Even if I don't end up staying."

Martha rose a brow from those particular words, as an inquisitive expression slowly spread out across her features. "Have you thought about what your going to do if that happens?"

"You mean have I figured out what is gonna happen between me and Clark if I do leave?" She corrected her, and when she just nodded at her, she continued, "I haven't really thought that far ahead, but I do know that I'm going to whatever it takes to stay here with all of you. If I do leave then we're just gonna have to figure something out cause no matter what you guys are stuck with me."

"Meaning you want to be with Clark no matter what," she informed her, as a soft smile graced her lips. "You sure that's something you're ready for? Being together is one thing, but having to live so far apart from each other-only being able to see each other for short periods of time is another thing entirely."

A small but growing smile graced her lips, as her mind conjured up images of what that would be like, and even though she would much rather stay here with him instead of living some long-distance type relationship, she knew that whatever happened they would somehow make it work.

They would always make things work.

"Martha, trust me when I tell you this…your son is worth it."

"And to him, so are you, sweetheart."

Lois just smiled over at her, loving how supportive this one woman was, especially since she's only known her a few days, but figured that that was just Martha Kent, and she wanted nothing more than to keep this woman in her life—to keep everyone she had met in her life.

Especially Clark.

All she had to do was convince her father that she belonged here.

That should be really easy, she thought to herself, sarcastically, knowing that when he found her convincing him to let her stay was gonna be one of the hardest battles she's ever had to face in her entire life, but every single one of them were worth it.

Clark was worth it.

* * *

After waiting for what seemed like hours, Clark finally watched his father being escorted towards the metal chair on the other side of the glass like he was some kind of criminal, and smiled, weakly, not able to hide his emotions when it was all his fault that this was happening, as he picked up the black, metal phone, wanting nothing than to just hear his father's voice right now.

"Hi, son," Jonathan spoke into the other phone with a strong and resilient tone. "I thought I told you to stay at home?"

"I couldn't just sit there and do nothing while you're stuck in here."

"Where's Lois?"

"She's outside with mom and Chloe."

"Seems like everyone is here."

"We are all here for you, dad," he told him with a soft smile before his facial expression slowly transformed into a more guilt-stricken one, as he locked his nervous eyes onto him. "Dad…I lied to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I did see Phelan again."

His eyes widened, slightly from those words, but he didn't say anything that could quite possibly start an argument between the two of them, knowing that his son had a reason for keeping something like this from him. "When?"

"Last night, I went with him to Metropolis. He made me break into an apartment. There was a safe filled with confidential files, and I think they were about him. He wanted me to hand them over to him."

A heavy sigh escaped past his closed lips, as he rested his forehead, lightly on the glass separating him just wanting to reach out and grab his son, especially when it was so obvious that he was conflicted about almost everything right now.

His son needed him.

And he was stuck in here.

"Oh, Clark. You didn't."

"I didn't have a choice, dad."

"Well, I'm sure that's what he wanted you to think, but you always have a choice, son."

"But I was just trying to protect everyone—"

"Come on, Clark!" He interrupted him, raising his voice, slightly more so from frustration rather than anger. "You can't protect us by lying to us!"

Clark slowly leaned back in his chair, hating hearing his father raising his voice at him, and even though he knew this next part was only going to make him even more angry than he already was, he needed to know everything that happened last night—everything that had caused all of this. "That's not the only thing that happened last night…"

"What else happened, Clark?"

"Lois showed up before I could do anything. She pulled up with several of her father's men, and they basically arrested him on the spot. We thought that this was over. That's why we didn't tell you anything, but somehow he was released. Phelan framed you because of us." He looked him dead straight in the eyes. "It's our fault that you're in here."

"Clark, don't you dare think like that!" He scolded him with that familiar strict tone he knew so well. "This isn't your fault, and it's not Lois' fault either. The only person to blame here is Phelan. Do you understand me?"

"You sound just like Lois," he voice out loud with a soft smile, but it quickly fell, as thoughts of the man responsible for ruining pretty much everything in his life bombarded his mind. "Dad, there's more."

Jonathan stared at him, unblinkingly for several excruciating long seconds, not entirely positive he could take anything more right now, but knew that he needed to know absolutely everything his son had failed to mention in the first place. "What else could there possibly be, Clark?"

"Phelan came back after you were arrested." His facial expression quickly changed into one of complete and utter anger, as his hands curled into fists at his sides before he took a deep break, knowing that there was no point in getting angry again.

It would only give Phelan exactly what he wanted.

"I got so angry, dad. I got so angry that I grabbed him. I've never felt that kind of anger before, and-and there was a split second where I, um, where I wanted to kill him…"

He took a deep, deep breath from those particular words, concern for his son replacing every single thing he was feeling right now before he nervously asked the question he hoped against all hope he already knew the answer to, "But you didn't, right?"

"No, dad. I didn't, but I was close."

His hand curled into a fist, as he rested it against the glass, making his son do the same exact thing before he locked his eyes onto him with complete and utter determination radiating out of them. "Believe me, son. I know all there is to know about losing your temper, but you can't afford to do it. This is Phelan' game, and he will play on your fear and on your anger. You can't let him get to you, Clark."

"I don't care," he said with so much confidence. "I won't let anybody hurt the people I care about."

"And he knows that, but once you cross that line, Clark. There's no going back."

"I wont cross that line, dad," he assured him with a soft smile.

When he finally found the courage within himself to leave his father, he made his way through the wooden double doors, where he found his mother and best friend drinking some coffee, immediately taking notice that the woman he came here with—the woman he wanted to start a relationship with was gone, and quickly walked over towards them with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Martha was the first one to notice him. "How's he doing?"

"He's doing just fine, mom. He wanted me to tell you that he loves and misses you." He smiled, softly from the way her entire face had lit up from those words before he slowly glanced around his surroundings, searching for the one person he really wanted to see, and felt his heart drop when he couldn't find her.

Did she leave? She wouldn't leave without telling him, right?

"Where's Lois?"

Martha smiled, softly from the way his thoughts immediately shifted to her just like it always seemed to, and honestly she loved the fact that the bright, beautiful firecracker of a woman affected him so deeply.

And he did the same exact thing to her.

"She stepped outside to get some air. I think this is all affecting her more than she thought it would. She could probably use some company."

He smiled, softly at that, knowing that his mother was telling him that she needed him. "Will you call me if anything changes?"

She nodded. "Of course, sweetheart."

"I'll just stay here then," Chloe yelled out, sarcastically, as her best friend disappeared out the front doors without another word, and shook her head from side to side, disappointingly before she locked her eyes onto Martha, who was just smiling at her, sympathetically. "Could he be any more obvious?"

Martha raised a brow at her, playing dumb, knowing that she couldn't be the one that told her anything. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not completely naïve, Martha," she told her with a roll of her eyes. "I know something is going on between the two of them, whether it's romantic or something else entirely I don't know, but things are definitely different between the two of them. What could have possibly changed from yesterday?"

"Who knows," she replied, hoping she would just drop the subject altogether.

Her eyes narrowed at her, slightly. "You know something, don't you? What's going on with them?"

Martha gave her the same exact expression she gave her the other night when she asked basically the same question. "Chloe, I already told you that I wasn't going to get in the middle of whatever was happening between the three of you. If something changed between them, I'm sure they would do the right thing, and tell you."

"I hope you're right," she told her with a faint smile, attempting her hardest not to allow thoughts of her best friend and cousin consume her, completely, but it was merely impossible when they didn't even try to hide the fact that something was happening between the two of them.

She could see it in the way they would speak to each other—she could see it in the way they looked at each other—she could see it in the way they just seemed to know what the other one was thinking, and it was only causing her heart to break even more.

Clark quickly made his way outside, his eyes searching everything surrounding him until he found her resting her hands on a metal railing, as she looked out into the distance, and he quickly walked up to her before wrapping his arms around her waist, loving the way she just melted into him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Well, hello there," she said, as she rested her hands over his, enjoying the feeling of being locked inside his embrace.

It was the best place to be, she thought to herself, as she closed her eyes, softly just wanting to enjoy this little moment of peace with him without having to worry about—to think about everything that was literally going wrong in their lives.

"Are you okay, Lois?"

She nodded, as she turned around in his arms, so she was facing him, and locked her hands behind his head, as he tightened his arms around her lower back, effectively pulling her closer to him. "I'm fine, Clark. I just needed some time to think about everything."

A wide smirk spread out across his face, as he started pulling away from her. "Well, in that case, I'll just—"

His sentence was cut short when she pulled him back into her arms as soon as he attempted moving away from her. "Don't you dare go anywhere."

He grinned, widely at her, loving the simple fact that she wanted him to be here with her just as much as he wanted her to be here with him before he very slowly walked her backwards until her back was lightly pressing against the metal railing, his hands wrapping around the metal railing on either side of her, locking her in place, as he stared down into those mesmerizing hazel eyes of hers. "You know, if I remember correctly we were supposed to be going on a date today."

Those particular caused her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink from the thought of going on a date with the handsome man standing in front of her before her lips upturned into a wide smile, as she tightened her hands around his head, wanting absolutely no space between them. "Technically, we could still have our date."

"Is that right?" he questioned her, as he brushed his nose against hers, affectionately.

She giggled, softly from the sensation before pulling away from him, slightly. "What do you say, Kent?"

"I'd love that more than anything—"

"There's a but coming, isn't there?" She interrupted him with a sigh.

"But," he said with a soft smile before continuing, "When we go on our date I want to be able to spend the entire day with you without having to worry about anything except the two of us, and right now the only thing I can really focus on is stopping Phelan from hurting anyone else I care about."

Lois nodded in understanding.

Honestly, she hadn't really expected him to just sweep her away and take her on some extravagant date, especially with everything that was going on. She knew that they wouldn't be having that date until all of this was over—until her father found her, which could be at any time—until she knew for a fact that she would be staying here.

And that was okay.

She just enjoyed sharing these type of moments with him.

"How's your dad doing?"

"He's doing pretty good considering." An expression of uneasiness crossed over his features. "I told him…everything."

"I told your mom everything too," she reassured him with a soft smile, wanting him to know that he did the right thing by telling his father just like she had done the right thing by telling his mother, actually, they probably should have told them the second all of this happened.

Maybe they could have stopped this from happening.

Maybe they could have been more prepared.

"So, how angry was he?"

"He wasn't angry, Lois." When he noticed that she was seconds away from opening her mouth to say something else, he pressed a finger over her lips, stopping her from uttering a single word. "And before you ask, the answer to your question is no, he doesn't blame either of us, and he's right. This is all Phelan' fault."

A heavy sigh escaped past her partially open lips, as she leaned her head back, slightly like that would make the headache slowly forming behind her eyes disappear before she locked her eyes back onto him, allowing him to see exactly what she felt inside right now. "I just wish all of this was over. I want your father out of jail, I want Phelan behind bars, I want my father to let me stay here, I want to have our first date, and I want my cousin to accept this-accept us."

His entire facial expression slowly transformed into one of complete and utter happiness from her words, as his heart started beating just a little bit faster inside of his chest just like it always did when she was looking at him like that—when she was speaking with her whole heart—when they were standing this close, but even though he wanted nothing more than to just do exactly what they both wanted, he also wanted his best friend to accept this—accept them without getting hurt.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

"When are you going to tell her?"

"Once all of this is over." Her facial expression dropped, completely before she sighed quite heavily from just the simple thought of her cousin, who was standing inside of that building probably thinking that she was just being a supportive friend to him, which she was, but the truth of the matter was that it went so, so much deeper than that.

They were more than just that.

And she hated—despised the fact that she had to lie to her, but she was absolutely terrified that this would change things between them.

She was afraid that her cousin would look at her with hatred instead of love.

"What if she hates me, Clark?"

Clark felt his heart break inside of his chest from the terrified look lingering in her emotion-filled hazel eyes—from the tone of her voice, which had cracked with what he could only presume was slight fear—from the way she was looking at him before he quickly placed one of his hands on the side of her face, his thumb caressing her skin ever so softly, as his other hand moved down to her waist, squeezing, gently, and stared directly into her eyes, making it impossible for either of them to look away. "Lois, Chloe could never hate you. You're her family. She loves you. I have faith that she will make the right decision when you tell her."

"You didn't see her, Clark. You didn't hear her questions. She has so many questions, and I know for a fact that she knows something is happening between the two of us. Luckily, you mother was there to stop her from really grilling me. I need to tell her, but I'm scared that I'm only going to hurt her."

"What if she doesn't accept us?" He questioned her with a more serious expression spreading out across his face before he tightened the hand around her waist, effectively pulling her just a little bit closer to him. "What will happen then?"

She stared at him for the longest time, as his question rang inside of her mind over and over again before she smiled, softly at him, her eyes shining with something he has never seen coming from her before, while her fingers combed through his hair, soothingly. "Nothing will change, Clark. No matter what happens I want to be like this with you. I want to be with you, but I just have to figure out the right way to tell her."

His lips slowly upturned into a soft smile before he rested his forehead against hers, loving the fact that she would still want to be with him even if his best didn't accept them. Of course, he wanted her to be okay with this—he wanted her to stay his best friend—he wanted the beautiful woman in his arms to have her cousin, but it could quite possibly not happen that way.

Hopefully, she would understand.

"We'll figure it out, Lois."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

They stared deeply into each other's eyes for the longest time like it was impossible to look away from each other before they slowly leaned forward, simultaneously, their lips meeting in a sweet, tender and passionate kiss, which revealed every single thing they were feeling for each other right now, as their arms wrapped around each other just wanting to be as close to each other as they possibly could, and relished in the way their hearts beat in synchrony against their chests like they were one.

After what seemed like several minutes, Clark finally pulled away from her, but kept her body as close to his as possible. "So, um, I was gonna head to the school and see if I could find anything—something that could prove my dad's innocence."

"You mean, you want to find something to use against Phelan."

He nodded. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Of course, I do, Clark," she told him with a beaming smile.

He smiled right back at her before slipping his hand into hers, their fingers intertwining together, instinctively, as they made their way towards the school, both of them knowing that they were going to do whatever it took to get everything they wanted.

When they finally made it to the school, they quickly started making their way inside the torch office, but the sound of her cellphone ringing, loudly stopped both of them in their tracks before they even made it to the front doors.

Lois sighed quite heavily, as she glanced down at the caller ID, knowing that the conversation she was seconds away from having with her best friend wasn't going to be good since it was undoubtedly going to be about her father before she gave him an apologetic smile. "It's Chloe. She must be wondering where we disappeared to. I'll, uh, meet you inside."

He just nodded at her before walking towards the front doors.

She watched him, as he vanished inside of the building with a heavy heart. She didn't particularly enjoy lying to him, but he was dealing with so much already, and she really didn't want to add to everything that was overwhelming every single person she has grown to care for. Besides, when her father inevitably found her, she didn't want him or anyone around.

This was a family matter, she thought to herself before she quickly answered her phone, "So, I take it you received my message?"

It was silent on the other line for a few seconds before she heard his voice on the other line, "First of all, I couldn't call you to warn you about your father releasing that man cause I didn't want him finding out that you weren't actually here. I might have told him that you locked yourself inside your room."

That brought a wide smile to her lips. "I knew I could count on you."

"I'm not finished yet." There was a slight pause before he continued, "Your father is gone, Lois."

And just like that everything came crashing down around her.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was on his way here, hell, he could probably already be here, which only meant that she had even less time to figure out how she was going to convince the man who had raised her that she belonged here instead of with him.

She had hoped that she would have at least one more day, but obviously that wasn't happening.

"When did he leave?"

"I don't know, Lois, but I'm guessing a few hours ago."

"Why the hell didn't you call me the second he left?" She yelled into the phone.

"Don't even start, Lois!" He yelled right back at her before he lowered his voice, knowing that he didn't want to argue with her about this, "I'm the one who covered for your ass when you decided to go back to that small-town instead of come back here."

She took a deep breath, effectively calming down her anxious nerves before she spoke into the phone, "I'm sorry, Wes. It's just that I'm dealing with a lot right now, but thank you for telling me."

"Your welcome, Lois. Just be careful, okay?"

"I always am," she told him before hanging up the phone, and quickly sent a quick text message to the man, who was waiting for her inside of that school, but unfortunately she couldn't be here for him even though this is exactly where she wanted to be right now.

Her father was most likely here, and she had to find him before he found anyone else.

She needed to be the one that confronted him.

No one else.

This was between her and her father.

As she was walking towards the house she hoped to call home one day, knowing that that would be the first place he would look for her, she felt nothing except complete and utter determination coursing through her veins from just the thought of the conversation she was about to have with her father.

It wasn't going to be good, she thought to herself, but it was time she stopped pretending everything was okay with him when it wasn't. Things haven't been right ever since her mother passed away, and it only got worse after he sent her sister away.

It was time he knew just how much she wanted to escape from that life—from him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an extremely familiar voice—a voice she really, really didn't want to hear right now, actually, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, especially after everything he did, "Someone having a rough day?"

Lois groaned very loudly from the sound of his annoying voice, not wanting to anywhere near this man right now, but the fact that he was here only made this horrible day even worse before she stopped walking almost immediately, her eyes slowly traveling over towards him, with a fierce glare set in place. "What the hell do you want, Phelan? Haven't you done enough? You got exactly what you wanted, so just leave me the hell alone."

Phelan quickly reached out, grabbed her arm when she attempted walking away from him, and pulled her back over towards him, his menacing eyes staring straight through her. "That's where you're wrong, Lois. I might have made both you and Clark pay for having me arrested, but I haven't exactly gotten what I wanted. You see, I still need him to do something for me, but after throwing his father in jail…you see my dilemma."

"And I wonder whose fault that is," she responded, sarcastically before she glared even harder at the man. "I mean, you framed his father for murder. There's no way he's going to help you even if it means that people find out about him. I don't know him very well, but I know him enough to know that nothing and I mean nothing is more important than his family."

"Which makes you the perfect hostage." Before she could utter a single word—before she could make a single move, he quickly grabbed onto her arm once again, squeezing, tightly before he pulled her down the isolated street towards his vehicle parked down the street. "You see, I couldn't help noticing that he's quite protective over you. I mean, I've only seen that ever since I met the two of you, which means you're his weakness. If I have you then he'll do whatever I want."

Lois struggled with all of her might to get away from this man, knowing that he was quite capable of basically anything, as he yanked her down the street, but he was gripping onto her so tight that it was nearly impossible to escape from him before she smirked over at him, refusing to allow this man to see any fear she was feeling.

It wasn't fear for her own safety.

It was fear for Clark.

She knew exactly what he was going to do when he realized that Phelan had her…help him.

And that was the last thing they needed right now.

"Funny you think I'd ever go anywhere with you," she informed him with that brash attitude of hers.

"Who said you had a choice?" He questioned her, mockingly, as they reached his parked car.

Without hesitating, he quickly pulled out his gun, banged the bud of it against the back of her head, knocking her out, unconscious, and caught her in his arms, as she fell to the ground before he searched the streets for any lurking bystanders.

With the coast clear, he quickly placed her in the trunk before he drove away from the scene without leaving a single trace that either of them were ever there. He knew Clark wouldn't help him unless he had leverage, and now he had his leverage, but if he was being honest with himself this was the best way to truly and honestly make her pay for having him arrested and getting Clark to do exactly what he wanted.

Talk about killing two birds with one stone, he thought to himself.

* * *

On the other side of Smallville, Chloe quickly made her way towards her front door just wanting to get this over with, so she could just get back to the police station for Martha since both Clark and Lois seemed to have other things they needed to deal with like whatever the hell had changed between them overnight.

After they had disappeared to who knows where, her father had called her, wanting her to grab something for him from the house, which is why she was here instead of with Martha.

She was in the process of unlocking the front door when her phone started buzzing, loudly in her pocket, and without having to check who was calling her, she answered the phone in a huffy tone, "Yes, dad. I just arrived at the house. You know this would go a lot quicker if you stopped calling me every two minutes."

"Drop the attitude, Chloe."

She mumbled something completely incoherent into the phone, as she finally walked inside of the house, and made her way into the kitchen, where she found his bag sitting on the counter. "Okay. I found it."

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit, sweetheart."

Chloe was seconds away from responding to him, but the sound of a very, very familiar gruff voice echoing from the other side of the room stopped her from uttering a single word. "Hello, Chloe."

Her eyes slowly widened to the size of saucers, as she watched the tall, stoic man, who knew how to intimidate someone just by looking at them, emerge from the darkness of her living room before he crossed his arms over his chest, stringently, causing her to gulp quite loudly from the familiarity of that look—of that stance.

This wasn't going to be good, she thought to herself, knowing that she was seconds away from being chewed out by the very last man she expected to see.

The sound of her father screaming her name through the phone caused her to quickly come back to reality before she slowly rose her phone to her ear, her voice sounding mixed between surprised and terrified, as she spoke to her father, "Dad, um, I think you should come home…now."

She quickly hung up the phone, and let it slip through her fingers down towards the ground, as she stared at the man she hasn't seen in way too long. "Uncle Sam…"

_**A shorter chapter, but I felt like a cliffhanger was needed for this chapter. **_

_**Sam has officially made it to Smallville right in the middle of everything that is going on, so except some major drama in the next chapter. Lois and Clark, on the other hand, I really enjoyed writing all their scenes together, even if it's still a little soon for them to be together, but I've put them together this early for a reason, and that will be revealed eventually. As for Chloe, well, she's gonna be having that conversation with Lois sooner than either of them think. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter thirteen **_


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_**The Beginning Of Our Story**_

_**Chapter Fourteen: **_

"Uncle Sam…"

Sam couldn't stop himself from grinning, slightly at the way his beautiful niece was staring at him with those wide green eyes of hers—the way her mouth kept opening and closing like she had absolutely no idea what to say to him—the way her brows kept crinkling together in complete and utter confusion, as that brain of hers attempted to figure out what was happening before he moved closer to her with the grin still lingering on his face. "Now, Chloe, is that any way to greet your uncle?"

Chloe quickly shook away every single confusing feeling that was consuming her at this moment in time before she moved even closer to him with a soft smile slowly gracing her lips, but it was strained. "I'm sorry, Uncle Sam. It's just that, um, you're the last person I ever expected to find inside my house."

He rose a brow at her. "I find that hard to believe, Chloe. I think you knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later, and I think you know exactly why it's happening right now."

"Lois…" she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"I figured that she would be here with you and Gabe. I mean, that was one of the many reason she left the base in the first place, so I need you to be completely honest with me, Chloe…do you know where she is?"

As soon as those particular words came out of his mouth, she tried her hardest not to laugh or chuckle from the simple fact that he was asking her the same exact question she has asked herself over and over again for the past few days, especially every single time she would disappear with her best friend, but it was merely impossible when he was staring at her with expectation like she was supposed to give him exactly what he wanted, and honestly, she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to tell him.

Her lovely cousin has been doing her own thing ever since she arrived here.

Of course, she had probably intended on spending most of her time with her, but that had changed the second she met her best friend, so it wasn't like she could just tell him what he wanted to know, and even if she did know where she was, she wouldn't tell him.

She refused to be the reason her cousin was ripped away from her again.

"You know, I've been wondering the same exact thing for days now."

Sam crossed his arms over his chest with that familiar stern expression slowly spreading out across his face, thinking that she was just being sarcastic with him. "Do you think this is funny?"

"No, Uncle Sam," she started before she calmed her overzealous laughter. "I don't think this is funny, actually, it's quite the opposite. You see, I've barely seen her, and my father will tell you the same exact thing when he gets here. I mean, we've both spent time with her, but she has also been spending time with people that already care about her-people that she cares about too."

That was one way to word it, she thought to herself, knowing full well that her cousin was probably with her best friend, but there was no way in hell she was telling him that. She might not like the fact that her cousin and best friend were only getting closer and closer, but that didn't mean she was going to tell him of all people that his daughter was spending most of her time with a guy.

That would mean certain death for every single one of them.

Sam rose his brows from those words. "If she isn't with you then she has to be with them, so do you have any idea where she might be?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea, but I'm sure she'll pop up sooner or later."

"Chloe, I need to find her—"

"You don't need to find her," she interrupted him before she strode over towards him with a serious expression slowly spreading out across her face, not able to hide what she was feeling—what she wanted even though her next words could quite possibly backfire on her. "You want to find her, but you're not gonna get anything out of me, Uncle Sam. I might be happy to see you, especially since it has been so long, but your only here to force her back to base. If she had listened to you-if she had stayed in Metropolis then you wouldn't be here. She will be back, but I'm telling you now that you're not gonna like what she has to say."

His brows crinkled together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Before she could open her mouth to tell him exactly what his daughter was gonna tell him when they saw each other, the front door swung open, banging against the wall, loudly, causing both of them to glance over towards the person responsible for interrupting their conversation.

Gabe, who has been feeling more than just slightly worried ever since his daughter told him to come home in that particular tone like she was terrified before hanging up on him, rushed into the house, only caring about getting to his daughter, but stopped dead in his tracks when he realized who was standing inside of his house, and felt nothing except complete and utter surprise consume him even though he had known this was going to happen—had feared this was going to happen.

His eyes traveled between the two of them, questioningly several times before they remained locked on the man he has feared for way too long. "Sam. What a surprise. Didn't expect to find you here."

"Gabe, I think you know why I'm here, actually, Chloe and I were just discussing that lovely daughter of mine, and how important it is that I find her." He looked at him, expectantly. "As a father, I'm sure you'll understand why I need to find my daughter. I know she's been staying here with you, Gabe, and I need your help to find her. We need to get back to base as soon as possible. It's where she should have been all along. She never should have came back here."

Before her father could react to his words, she took several steps until she was standing directly in front of her uncle, who she has missed just as much as she has missed her cousin, not fearing him whatsoever, and stared at him with complete and utter disappointment. "So, you really don't care what me or your daughter has to say about this?"

"Chloe—"

"No, Uncle Sam," she interrupted him once again before her emotion filled green eyes locked onto him with pure sadness radiating out of them. "My father might be terrified to say something to you, but I've never feared you, and I never will."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "I've spent years without her because of you, and I'm not spending another second without her in my life, so if all you're worried about is forcing her back to base with you then you're gonna have to do it without me."

Sam watched her storm up the stairs with an even more confused expression slowly spreading out across his face before he glanced over at the man he had once called his family all those years ago. "What was that all about?"

"You might not be able to see it, Sam or maybe you're just refusing to see what has been right in front of you for years, but Chloe and Lois need each other. When they were younger all they had was each other, hell, they practically did everything together, and then when El…" he trailed off, knowing that he didn't need to say those particular words out loud. "You tore them away from each other. Nine years, Sam. Our daughters have seen each other only two or three times in the past nine years, actually, this is the longest amount of time they've spent together."

He took a deep, deep breath, attempting to build the courage within himself to say these next words, knowing full well that it would probably piss him off, but he needed to hear this. "If you don't start paying attention to Lois-if you don't start putting her feelings first then you're only gonna lose her."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your daughter has been giving you signals her entire life, Sam. All the rebellious behavior, all the times she has disobeyed your direct orders, and don't even get me started on all the times she has ran away from you. She left base the second you left to come see her family. She misses us. We miss her. If you actually believe that forcing her back to base with you is gonna stop her from rebelling against you then you have another thing coming."

Sam was more than a little surprised from the tone of voice he was using with him, and there was a small part of himself that knew everything he had just told him was nothing except the truth, but there was only one thing he could focus on right now…finding his daughter.

"Gabe, I just want to find her. You have to understand that."

"Of course, I can understand that Sam, hell, I'd want to find my daughter if she ran away, but you're once again putting what you want over what she needs—"

"Are you gonna help me or not?" He interrupted him.

"I don't know how my sister ever dealt with this," he whispered underneath his breath before he took several steps towards him. "No, I'm not gonna help you tear our daughters away from each other. You're on your own, Sam."

And without another word, he quickly grabbed his bag and left the house.

Sam stared at the closed front door for several seconds, not able to believe everything that had just happened, but if he was being completely honest with himself, he couldn't really be angry with him or his niece for their true but harsh words.

This was all his fault.

He was the one who never called to check up on his family.

He was the one who never thought his actions all those years ago would have such a heavy impact on not only both his daughter and niece, but also the man he has known for several years.

He was the one that chose to block out this part of his life just because it was too damn painful.

But…

Now everything was starting to make complete sense.

His niece had lost her aunt.

His brother in law had lost his sister.

And what did he do?

Take his daughters away from the two people that had been a big part of their lives growing up, and it was all because he couldn't deal with the pain of losing his wife and best friend, hell, it has been nine years since that horrendous day and he still couldn't deal with that pain, but even though all he wanted to do was find his daughter and bring her back to base, he also wanted—needed to fix what he had quite obviously broken.

After taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way up the stairs, and knocked on the wooden door before pushing it open to find his niece laying down on her bed, staring up at the white, popcorn ceiling like she was completely lost. "Chloe? Can I come in?"

"That depends on if you plan on forcing my cousin to leave with you," she said without ever looking at him.

He slowly walked over towards her, and sat down at the edge of her bed, his eyes locking onto her almost immediately. "Chloe, I never knew that being away from your cousin affected you this much. You guys were so young that I didn't think it would have this much of an impact on your lives."

"It didn't until now," she informed him before she slowly looked over at him. "These past few days with her have been amazing. I didn't realize how much I missed her-missed this until she was in my life again, and she feels the same exact way, but I've also missed you, Uncle Sam. You were always the person I went to when I was younger, but when you took Lois and Lucy away from us I didn't just lose them. I lost you too, and I don't want to lose any of you ever again."

Sam smiled, softly at that. "I missed you too, Chloe. Your father on the other hand…"

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle from his words. "You two never really did get along."

"And that will probably never change," he told her with the smile still resonant on his face before his facial expression slowly transformed into a more serious one. "Chloe, if I would have known that you two needed each other this much I would have made sure that you two spent more time together, but now that I know I promise that you and Lois will remain in each other' lives no matter what."

She slowly sat up with a hopeful look lingering in her eyes. "Does that mean you're not gonna leave with her as soon as you find her?"

"I promise we won't leave right away, Chloe, but she will be coming back with me, so will you help me find that troublesome cousin of yours?"

She smiled over at him, faintly from the teasing words he had used to describe her cousin, but the simple fact that he still intended on tearing them away from each other once again only made her want to keep him as far away from her as possible, and there was only one way she could stop him from finding her cousin…a distraction tactic.

"I'll help you, but only if you help me first."

He rose a brow from her words. "What could I possibly help you with?"

"Actually, you'd be helping someone that means a lot to me, and who knows Lois just might show up. This person means a lot to her too."

"What does this person need help with?"

"I'll explain on the way."

Chloe knew that her uncle probably couldn't help Jonathan, but at least her cousin would have a few more hours before he inevitably found her and took her away from her once again. She might be feeling very, very confused, and even a little hurt from everything that has been transpiring between her cousin and best friend, but she would do absolutely anything for her cousin.

Even lying to her own uncle.

* * *

Clark was slowly walking down the streets of Smallville back towards the police station, feeling more than just a little worried at this moment in time, not because his mother had any news for him regarding his father, but because he hasn't heard from Lois ever since she sent him that vague text message…

_Clark, something came up and I need to take care of it, but don't worry. _

_I'll see you later. _

That was well over two hours ago.

Where the hell could she be?

He didn't know, but for some unknown reason he had this weird and intense feeling in the pit of his stomach like his instincts were attempting to tell him something—like something dreadful was going to happen, and for the first time in his life he could honestly admit that he didn't enjoy feeling this way, especially when it came to her—came to Lois.

She had to be okay.

As soon as he made it made to back to the police station, he quickly made his way inside, where he found his mother sitting in the same exact spot she had been in when he left, and walked over towards her with a soft smile gracing his lips before he glanced around the entire room, searching for his best friend, but was quite surprised when he didn't see her.

What was with these women? He questioned himself, not understanding how Chloe and Lois could be so completely different from each other, but also awfully similar at the same exact time.

"Where's Chloe?"

"She had to run home, but she'll be back later."

Martha slowly stood up with a smile slowly spreading out across her features, but it quickly fell when she noticed that someone in particular was missing. They've been practically glued to each other' hips from the moment they met, so why wasn't she with him now?

"Where's Lois?"

His heart dropped, slightly from those words before he sighed quite heavily. "I was hoping that she would be here."

She gave him a weird look. "Didn't you two leave together?"

He nodded. "She had to take care of something, but I haven't heard from her since."

"Have you tried calling her?"

He nodded again. "It goes straight to voicemail every single time."

She rested her hand on the side of his arm, squeezing it ever so slightly, as a way to reassure him. "I'm sure everything is fine, Clark, but you could check the places you know she likes to go like the farm, Beanery or maybe even the school if you're really that worried."

"Call me if anything changes with dad?"

"Of course, honey."

Clark gave her another soft smile before he practically took off running out the front doors, and started heading for the closest alley way, intending to get back to the farm as fast as he possibly could, knowing that that would be the first place that she would go, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the familiar voice of his friend coming from directly behind him.

"Clark!"

"Hey, Lex," he said, as he turned around to face him. "What's up?"

"I just heard about your dad. Is he okay?"

"He's hanging in there."

"It's Phelan, isn't it? What's he got on you, Clark?"

"Nothing," he lied. "Look, Lex I understand that you want to help, and I appreciate it, but you just can't, okay? I've gotta handle all of this on my own."

Lex watched him walk away with a defeated expression slowly spreading out across his face. Ever since he found out that Phelan had something on Clark, he has been trying and failing at getting any kind of information that would give him the answers he's wanted from the moment he saved his life on that bridge, and this was just another failed attempt.

If he wanted to find out what Phelan had on Clark he was just going to have to get his hands dirty. Even if that meant following him until he got exactly what he wanted…the truth.

Back inside of the police station, Martha watched her son disappear out the front doors with a slow but growing smile spreading out across her face. It was quite obvious that her son was more than just a little worried about the woman, who had only brought light and happiness into every single one of their lives, and even though she highly doubted something bad had happened to her, she knew that her son was only going to be able to focus on her and only her until he found her.

Lois Lane definitely had a way of getting underneath his skin.

And he did the same exact thing to her.

She was seconds away from sitting back down, intending to wait just like she has been doing all day to hear any kind of news regarding her husband when she watched Chloe and a tall, stoic man wearing an military uniform walk through the front doors together, and it only took one look for her to realize just who he was…Lois' father.

This complicated things, she thought to herself, but at least neither her son or Lois was here.

"Sorry that took so long, but um, I had quite the surprise when I arrived at home," Chloe explained before giving her a soft, but apologetic smile. "Martha Kent, I would like you to meet my uncle, Sam Lane."

Martha was feeling more than a little shocked to be in the same room with the man, who she hasn't heard too many good things about over the past couple of days, but smiled over at him nonetheless, even if she didn't agree with the way he treated his daughter. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Sam. Lois has told me quite a few things about you. I'm guessing that's why you're here."

Sam rose a brow from her words, but if he was being completely honest with himself, it didn't really surprise him that his daughter had come into contact with so many different people in such a short amount of time.

She has always had a way with people.

Just like her mother, he thought to himself.

"Yes, I'm here looking for my daughter, but my lovely niece blackmailed me into helping her first."

Martha grinned, widely at that. "Teenagers seem to be quite good at that, don't they?"

"You could say that again," he replied before he glanced over at his niece. "Chloe was just telling me everything that has happened, and even though I don't know you or your husband I want to help in some way."

"I appreciate that, but I'm not sure there's much you can do."

"You'd be surprised, Martha," he said with a smile before he walked away from them.

She watched him disappear before she turned her attention towards the spunky blonde with a questioning look lingering in her eyes. "Chloe, please tell me that you didn't bring him here just to distract him from finding Lois."

Chloe grinned, innocently over at her. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't think of anything else. I don't want him finding her yet. He promised they wouldn't leave right away, but—"

"But you're scared that when he finds her he's gonna go back on his word?" She finished her sentence.

She nodded. "I love my uncle. I really do, but he tore us away from each other once, and I refuse to let that happen again."

Martha grinned even wider from those words. "I have a feeling that things are gonna be different this time, Chloe. He might think that she's just gonna willingly leave with him, but I can guarantee that Lois is going to do whatever it takes to stay here with you, and even if that doesn't happen, she won't let him keep her away from the people she wants and needs in her life."

"How do you know?"

"Cause she told me," she informed her with a soft smile. "Chloe, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Whether she leaves or stays, you're gonna have her in your life."

Chloe just nodded.

There was a small part of herself that wanted to believe the words coming out of her mouth, but the other part of herself couldn't help wondering if this was the last time she was going to see her cousin for a very, very long time.

It has happened before, so what was stopping it from happening again?

She didn't know, but she wanted—needed to do everything in her power to make sure her cousin stayed in her life, and nothing, not even her own uncle was going to stop her from helping her cousin get exactly what she wanted…a normal life here with her.

* * *

Clark was sitting on the small wooden chair next to the large open window of the loft just staring out across the slightly darkened cornfields, feeling nothing except complete and utter concern, as his mind was consumed with thoughts of the woman, who has been locked inside of his head ever since he received that message from her, which wasn't all that surprising to him.

Ever since he laid his eyes on her inside of that Museum she has been on his mind, but the simple fact that she wasn't responding to his calls or text messages was extremely worrisome.

And he just wanted to know if she was okay.

He quickly picked up his phone again, dialed her number, and waited quite impatiently to hear the sound of her beautiful voice on the other end, but when all he received was her voicemail once again, he chucked his phone across the room, shattering it into several pieces.

"Great," he muttered underneath his breath before he quickly stood up, intending to pick up all the pieces, but was stopped by the sound of an awfully familiar voice coming from directly behind him—a voice he really, really didn't want to hear right now.

All he wanted was her—was Lois, but obviously that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

"You busy, Clark?"

Clark slowly turned around to face him with an annoyed expression lingering on his face. "What do you want from me, Phelan?"

"That's complicated," he told him, as he moved closer to him. "After last night, I've got internal affairs asking me more questions than I want to answer."

"That's your problem."

"No, it's our problem," he corrected him. "But our next bit of business is gonna be our last."

Clark rolled his eyes from his words, feeling completely and utterly fed up with this man. "Look, I don't care anymore. You can tell the whole world about me if you want, but I'm not helping you."

Phelan sighed quite heavily. "Clark, you might not care about yourself, but think about your parents. Now, your father is in jail on a murder charge, and whether he beats it or not, he's gonna lose this farm just paying legal fees."

"I can still make all that go away," he added before snapping his fingers. "So, what's it gonna be?"

He glared, heatedly at the man, not allowing him to get underneath his skin with his threatening words even though this man had practically ruined his entire life. "You can make all the threats you want, Phelan, but nothing you say is gonna make me help you."

"I thought you might say that…" he trailed off, as he glanced over his shoulder like he was looking at something. "Come on up, sweetheart, and don't you dare try anything or your little boyfriend here will have even more problems than he already does."

Clark was completely and utterly confused from those words, not understanding what he was talking about or who he was talking to until the beautiful woman he has literally been worried about most of the day slowly made her way up the wooden stairs, causing his heart to sink into the deepest part of his stomach from the sight of her with ropes tied around her wrists and with a black cloth covering her mouth.

Faster than humanly possible, he quickly rushed over towards her, and removed the cloth from her mouth before his eyes roamed over every single inch of her face like he was searching for some kind of visible injury. "Lois! Are you okay?"

Lois smiled, softly from the worried tone he was using with her, feeling more than just a little thankful that she was finally seeing him. Honestly, she didn't know what Phelan had intended on doing with her when he knocked her out and kidnapped her, but it certainly wasn't this.

It wasn't him bringing her to the one person who could get them out of this mess.

"I'm fine, Clark. Aside from the fact that I've been stuck with this dumbass all day."

"All day?" He repeated her words with a questioning look slowly spreading out across his face.

She nodded before glancing over towards the man responsible for taking her hostage with a glare set in place. "But I've been unconscious for most of it. Thanks for that by the way."

Clark quickly attempted ripping off the ropes around her wrists, but before he could loosen them enough for her to escape, Phelan quickly pulled her away from him, and pulled out his gun, pointing it directly at her chest. "Okay. That's enough. I don't need you rescuing my only assurance."

He glared even harder at the man, who was literally threatening the one person he didn't want to lose—the one person he couldn't lose. "Why are you doing this to her when you want me?"

"Cause I knew you wouldn't help me unless I had some kind of leverage," he informed him before he tightened his hold on her, making sure that she couldn't escape from him. "Hence the reason I took your little girlfriend, so what's it gonna be, Clark? You either help me or this will be the last time you ever see her again. It's your choice."

Clark glanced over at Lois, who just gave him a soft smile, and in that moment he knew that they were going to get out of this—they were going to stop this man from hurting anyone else as long as they were together. "I'll help you just please, please don't hurt her."

"I knew you would come around," he said before he forcefully pushed her towards the stairs down to his car, knowing that he would follow them, and as soon as they were both sitting in the backseat, he quickly drove away from the farmhouse, none of them noticing the black SUV following them.

As soon as they pulled up to the Museum, Clark and Lois glanced over at each other with weird and confused expressions slowly spreading out across their faces, both of them wondering the same exact thing…why did he bring them here?

"What are we doing here?" Clark questioned him.

Phelan turned off the engine before he glanced over his shoulder towards them, his eyes glancing between the two of them. "Since I couldn't pick up my internal affairs records, I figured it was time to pick up my retirement package."

"The breastplate," Lois voiced out loud, as soon as the true meaning behind his words dawned on her. "You want Clark to steal it for you."

"I don't give a damn about the breastplate," he informed them before he smiled a wicked smile. "I just want the ten million dollar worth of jewels that are on it. Come on. We don't have much time."

All three of them quickly got out of the car, and started making their way towards the Museum.

While Phelan walked ahead of them, Clark quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, effectively pulling her into his side just relishing in the fact that she instinctively wrapped both of her hands around his free one like this was something they did on a daily basis before he leaned closer to her ear, and whispered, "Are you sure you're okay?"

She whispered back, "I'm fine, Clark, but I'd be much better if this was all over."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna give him what he wants."

"And I'm gonna help you," she told him with a smile.

He smiled right back at her before he focused his attention on the man in front of them. "So? What's the plan? We just gonna bust in?"

"Not exactly," he told them, as they made it to the back of the Museum, where the security system was located. "You see, the Metropolis Police Department keeps blueprints on all high-security buildings in the city, so I know this place better than the architect. The security system all runs through this junction box."

He pointed his flashlight directly at the box before looking over at him, expectantly. "Open it up."

"Is it alarmed?"

"They only alarm things they think people can get through." When he noticed that he was hesitating, slightly on doing what he wanted, he quickly moved directly behind Lois, and placed his hand on her shoulder, roughly, as he pointed the gun in his other hand directly against her back. "Clark, I'm getting pretty bored with this. If you want your girlfriend back in one piece then just do what I tell you."

Lois rolled her eyes from his threatening words. "You know, your threats are starting to get old, Phelan."

"And I think I liked you better with that cloth covering that opinionated and brash mouth of yours," he snapped back before he dug the gun into her back, causing her face to scrunch up in immense pain from the feeling of the metal gun being jammed into her lower spine, but refused to make a single sound, not wanting this man to see or hear how much pain she was experiencing right now.

Clark felt his blood boil from the sight of him hurting her, but focused on the task at hand, knowing that he would find the opportunity to stop him for good, and quickly bent back the door to the metal box, revealing several different colored wires. "Cameras are one thing, but what about the guards?"

"They're about to get extremely busy," he answered him, as he dialed the number into his phone, and as soon as the operator spoke into the other line, he continued speaking, "Yeah. Metropolis Museum? You have two minutes to leave the building. There's a bomb outside."

He quickly clipped the wires before looking between the two of them with a victorious smile gracing his lips. "The cameras are all dead in Luthor Hall."

Both Clark and Lois rolled their eyes from his words before following him inside of the building, hoping that they would find the opportunity to end this—to stop him before it was too late.

Once they made it inside of the building, they made their way over towards the glass case, which had thick metal bars surrounding it before Phelan looked over at him, expectantly once again. "Kid, show me the magic."

Clark just gave him an annoyed look before he bent the bars far enough apart, and punched through the glass, shattering it into a million of pieces, wanting nothing more than for this to be over, so he could take the woman he has wanted to be with literally all day long back home.

"We are gonna make a great team," Phelan told him, as he took the breastplate out of the case, and placed it inside of his large black duffel back before zipping it up.

Clark took the opportunity of him being distracted to look straight through the wall on the other side of the room with his x-ray vision to find security guards walking around outside before he looked back over at him with a smirk slowly spreading out across his face. "We'll never be a team."

Lois grinned from ear to ear from his words, knowing exactly what he was intending on doing from just the expression that was lingering on his face, and quickly slipped out of the ropes binding her hands together just like her father had taught her before she kicked him directly in the chest, causing him to fall down to the ground, grunting in pain. "Now, Clark!"

Without hesitating, he quickly grabbed the bag, and tossed it through the windows directly in front of the security guards outside. "You might be able to explain the safe, but you're fingerprints are all over that breastplate."

"You might be fast, but let's see if your fast enough to save her," he yelled out with complete menace lingering in his voice before he grabbed his gun once again, and fired it directly at her, hoping against all hope that this would teach him a lesson.

Clark quickly sped over towards her, wrapped his arms around her body, tightly, and lifted her up off the ground, bridal style before he super sped both of them out of the Museum towards the farmhouse, feeling nothing but complete happiness overwhelm him from the simple fact that this was all finally over.

The bullet pierced through a glass case, missing the intended targets altogether.

"What are you?" Phelan muttered out loud with widened eyes, not able to believe that he was fast enough to save her and miss the bullet, but they were already gone.

All of a sudden, the guards rushed into the room, and he quickly stood up before opening fire on them, refusing to be taken to prison for this.

"Get down!" One of the guards yelled, as they continued firing at him.

Phelan continued firing at them until one of their bullets hit him directly in the chest, causing him to collapse down to the ground.

Lex, who had been outside with all of the guards, rushed over towards him, and dropped down to the ground next to him, hoping—praying that he was still breathing, so he could finally get all the answers he desperately wanted. "Phelan, where's Clark and Lois? I know they came with you. Just tell me what you had on him."

"G-go to hell, Luthor," he said with a smile before his eyes slithered closed for the very last time.

He sighed quite heavily from the sight of the man, who had helped his father on more than one occasion, dead on the ground directly in front of him before he glanced around the room, attempting to figure out how Clark and Lois could escape so quickly.

Where the hell did they go?

* * *

Back in Smallville, Martha and Sam were sitting down on the very uncomfortable chairs directly next to each other inside of the police station, as they waited for any kind of news regarding Jonathan. After his attempts of getting him released back fired on him, he relegated to staying here with her instead of searching for his daughter, knowing that she would still be here when they eventually left this place, but if he was being completely honest with himself, he wanted to be here for them.

It was weird, he thought to himself, he was never the type of person to help someone he didn't know unless it affected him in some way, but this family was quite obviously important to his daughter.

And if they meant something to her then he was going to do whatever it took to help them.

He slowly glanced over towards the woman sitting next to him, who seemed to be completely lost in thought, and rested his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look over at him with slight surprise evident on her face. "Don't worry, Martha. I'm sure they'll have some news for us soon."

Martha smiled, softly from those words before she focused all of her thoughts on him. "Thank you for trying to help, Sam. You didn't have to stay, but you did, and I appreciate that."

"It wasn't a problem." He stared at her for the longest time, as his mind was consumed with thoughts of his daughter, and built the courage within himself to ask the question he has wanted to ask ever since arriving here. "So, um, according to Chloe, my daughter has been spending a lot of time with you and your family. She hasn't been causing you any problems, has she?"

There was a small part of herself that wanted to berate this man for asking such a question, especially since it was about his own daughter, but the other part of herself understood that he just wanted some answers, and if that was what he wanted then that was exactly what she was going to give him whether he liked what she had to say or not.

"Of course, not," she assured him with a forced smile. "Your daughter is a beautiful and amazing person, Sam, but I couldn't help noticing that she seems a little lost. The first time I met her she attempted putting on this façade for both me and Jonathan, but we could see straight through her. I think she's scared to admit what she really wants or at least that was the case before she came here."

"What do you mean?" He questioned her with a slight frown, not able to believe that his strong and resilient daughter was afraid of anything.

"Well, um, it's quite obvious that she is still hurting over the loss of her mom. She hasn't said those exact words to me or to anyone, but I can see it in her eyes every single time she talks about her. She's also quite the rebellious teenager, but I think that has more to do with the fact that she wants so many different things-things that she never thought she could have until she came here."

His frown only deepened from her words. "What are you talking about?"

"You might not be able to see this, Sam, but your daughter wants normalcy in her life. You know, friends, family, someone she can depend on no matter what…" she trailed off, as she gave him a pointed look, hoping that he would understand what she was attempting to get across without her having to actually say the words out loud. "Have you ever thought about giving her exactly what she clearly wants?"

"You mean, retire from the Military, and move some place, where she could have a somewhat normal life?"

She nodded.

He sighed quite heavily, as he leaned back in his chair. "I have thought about that more times than I can count. I never wanted this life for my children, and my wife was actually looking for a place for us off base that way they could have the life we always wanted for them, but after she died things just got so complicated."

"You mean, you threw yourself into work," she corrected him, but when he just gave her a weird look, she pressed further, "I'm not judging you, Sam. If I ever lost my husband I would probably be a complete wreck, and I would probably do whatever it took to keep my mind off of it, but your daughter isn't that six year old girl anymore. She has a mind of her own, and she has things she wants to do with her life, but I think she's afraid to tell you cause she doesn't want to lose you."

He frowned even more so. "Did she say something to you?"

She shook her head, softly. "She didn't have to say anything for me to see the truth, Sam. Your daughter is so smart and so bright, and I think she deserves something better than what has been given to her."

"I'm just trying to do what's best for her."

"Maybe what's best for her is something you haven't even considered yet."

"Are you saying I should just leave my daughter here while I travel the world for my job?" When she nodded, he quickly shook his head from side to side, not liking that idea whatsoever. "I could never do that."

"Why not? You did it with Lucy."

Sam stared at her, feeling more than a little surprised from the direction their conversation was going, but honestly, the reason his daughter was so connected to this family after it only being a few days was slowly starting to make more and more sense the longer he spent time with this woman. "That was different. It was what was best for her at the time."

"And what about what's best for Lois?"

"Being with me is what is best for her," he told her with complete confidence.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that; Sam. Lois just might have something else in mind."

Before he had the chance to respond to that, the attorney doing everything in his power to help Jonathan quickly walked over towards them with an uneasy smile gracing his lips, interrupting their conversation, "So, I have good news and bad news."

Martha felt her heart sink from those words, but didn't allow it to show on her face. "What's going on?"

"Well, the good news is that the Metropolis Police Department found the man responsible for setting up your husband. He was just gunned down in the city, but the bad news is that they won't be able to send over the appropriate paperwork until the morning, which means—"

"It means that my husband has to stay here overnight," she interrupted him.

He nodded. "But he should be released in the morning."

She smiled, softly over at him. "Thank you, Bill so much for everything you have done."

He smiled right back at her. "It wasn't a problem, Martha. Just tell that husband of yours that he owes me a few beers."

"I'll relay the message." She watched him walk away from them before she turned around towards the man she had just been lecturing in her own way. "I guess this means you can look for your daughter now."

"And I guess this means you can bring some good news home to your son."

"I just wish I could tell Jonathan," she admitted out loud, hating the fact that she wouldn't be able to see him since visiting hours ended quite some time ago—hating the fact that she would have to sleep without him tonight before she smiled, softly at the man sitting next to her. "Thank you again for everything you've done today."

"I couldn't imagine doing anything else," he told her with a soft smile gracing his lips before he glanced over at his niece, who was practically laying down across the other set of chairs with her feet swinging in the air, as she was completely absorbed into her phone. "Chloe!"

Chloe quickly sat up and made her way over towards them with a hopeful gaze lingering in her eyes. "Yes, Uncle Sam?"

"Grab your things. We're leaving."

She gave him a weird look. "What about Jonathan? I thought we weren't leaving until he was released?"

"And he will be in the morning."

Chloe quickly glanced over towards Martha, who gave her an affirmative nod before she practically lunged into her arms from complete and utter happiness. "See! I told you it would all work out!"

Martha just smiled, while Sam gave her a knowing look. "Now, you can take me to Lois."

Her facial expression dropped from those words. "So, um, about that. I have absolutely no idea where she is, and I really don't know how to find her. I mean, she could be anywhere. This might be a small-town, but we'd have to check every square inch of this town, and that might take forever—"

"Knock it off, Chloe," Martha interrupted her with that familiar stern expression before she turned towards the man, who just wanted to find his daughter. "She's probably at the farm with my son, Clark. You can follow me there, and you three might as well join us for dinner before you leave."

"I think that's a great idea, Martha. I mean, you don't plan on leaving until tomorrow, isn't that right, Uncle Sam?"

"Yes, but—"

"I insist that you stay for dinner," she interrupted him.

Sam just smiled at her before nodding in affirmation, knowing that it would be physically impossible to say no to this woman. He quickly followed her out of the police station with his niece not too far behind him, feeling relief flourish throughout him, not because he wanted to bring her back to base, which he did, but because he wanted—needed to find out what was going on with her.

Chloe.

Gabe.

Martha.

All three of them had mentioned something regarding his daughter, and he was going to do whatever it took to get her to open up to him like she had opened up to them.

No matter what, he would do whatever was best for his daughter.

_**Sincere apologies for the long wait for this chapter, but I've been in and out of the hospital the past few weeks. Fortunately, I'm feeling much better now. Unfortunately, there is only one more full chapter and an epilogue left to this story, but rest assured the second part to this series will be released soon. **_

_**As for this chapter, a lot happened between all of the characters, and the next chapter will be focusing on tying up some loose ends like Sam finding out some interesting things from Lois and Chloe will finally have that conversation with Lois. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed chapter fourteen **_


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